Teens posed as minors on dating apps to lure and extort 'paedophiles'
In one such incident, a 24-year-old man was duped into thinking that he was meeting a 15-year-old boy for sex.
When he arrived at the meeting place, one of the teenagers recorded him on a mobile phone and the pair deleted the footage only after receiving $2,000 from the man.
Shaaqir Noor'rifqy Mohammed Noorrizat,19, who was the mastermind of the plan, pleaded guilty to one count of extortion on July 4. Two other similar charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced in August.
His accomplice cannot be named as he was just 17 years old at the time of the offences, and those below 18 are protected under the Children and Young Persons Act. His case is pending.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Chye Jer Yuan said: "(Shaaqir) had come up with the idea to impersonate underage females or males on online dating applications to lure paedophiles and extort money from them."
The teenagers posed as underage individuals who were seeking sexual encounters and went on platforms such as Grindr, commonly used by gay men, and hook-up groups on Telegram.
The 24-year-old man was duped on Grindr. When he went to the void deck of a Bukit Batok block of flats at around noon on Nov 6, 2024, Shaaqir and his accomplice confronted him.
They started to question the man on why he wanted to meet a minor for sex and threatened to alert the police.
APP Chye said: "They told him that they would keep this a secret if he paid them, before stopping the recording. The (man) agreed and both accused followed him to withdraw a sum of $2,000."
Shaaqir and his accomplice then deleted the recording in front of the man after receiving the money.
Both teenagers were arrested at around 11pm that day. The prosecutor did not disclose in court documents how the pair's offences were discovered.
On July 4, the court called for reports to assess Shaaqir's suitability for both probation and reformative training.
Young offenders ordered to undergo reformative training are detained in a centre to undergo a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
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