A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to 24 weeks' jail and a fine of S$6000 on Tuesday, 10 December 2019 after he pleaded guilty to paying two 16-year-old girls to have sex with him at staircase landings of HDB blocks.
According to media reports, the man who has been identified as Mohammad Yunus Sakdun committed the offences in mid-2012 and early 2013 after meeting the girls on an online forum page called Alamak Chat.
Underage girls advertised service on an online forum
The girls, who cannot be named due to a gag order, advertised their sexual services on Alamak Chat as they both needed money and did not want to burden their parents financially.
Yunus engaged in sexual activities with the first girl in June 2012 over three occasions.
During this time, the girl would perform oral sex on Yunus and get paid about S$70 to S$100 per meeting.
The other underage minor met Yunus around five times between June 2013 to December 2014.
She also gave Yunus oral sex and was paid about S$60 to S$70 each time.
Despite knowing that it is illegal to have commercial sex with individuals under 18, Yunus assumed they were above the legal age and did not check their identification cards when he met them.
According to the court, both girls, now in their 20s, have stopped providing such services.
Police found obscene videos on man's phone
Yunus' offences only came to light in April 2018 when a police report was made against him for alleged attempted extortion.
It was only after this report that police discovered that he had also had paid sex with the 16-year-old minors.
Apart from that, upon seizing Yunus' mobile phone, police also found 12 pornographic films– which he has been fined S$6000 for.
Man did not 'manipulate' the victims
In court, Yunus' lawyer Kenii Takashima said he did not intentionally look for sex with underage girls and that the “victims were not manipulated into the trade but advertised their trade online”.
Mr Takashima also said that Yunus turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as viewing pornography because he was physically and verbally abused by his father and had a painful breakup when he was 21 – leaving him feeling empty and severely depressed.
It is still unclear if either of the girls made the police report.
For each count of commercial sex with a minor, Yunus could have been jailed up to seven years or fined, or both.
For possessing obscene films, he could have been fined up to S$20,000, jailed up to six months, or both.