Married man who offered cash to 12-year-old girl for sexual acts gets 19 months' jail in Singapore

The Star

9 hours ago

Kok Chuan Yuan pleaded guilty to offences that include obtaining for consideration the sexual services of the minor. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: A married man, who chatted with a 12-year-old girl online and found out that she was selling pictures of herself naked for S$150, offered her the same amount if she allowed him to touch her.
Despite knowing the girl's age, Kok Chuan Yuan and the girl later went to a stairwell of a Housing Board block, where she allowed him to perform lewd acts after he promised to give her $50.
He contacted the victim again later that day and invited her to his home in exchange for $50, but she turned him down.
Kok, 37, was sentenced to a year and seven months' jail on Tuesday (Aug 19).
He had pleaded guilty to offences that include obtaining for consideration the sexual services of the minor.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yeo Kee Hwan told the court that Kok had earlier gone on online marketplace Carousell on Nov 21, 2024 and struck up a conversation with the girl, who told him that she was 13 years old.
She also offered to sell him pictures of herself naked, but he declined the offer.
Instead, he asked the girl if she was willing to let him touch her in exchange for cash and the pair then moved their conversation to WhatsApp to avoid detection from Carousell.
The DPP said that the pair later went to the stairwell at around 6.30pm that day, adding: 'There, the accused persuaded the victim to allow him (to touch her chest) for 10 to 15 minutes for $50.
'After performing the act, he then proceeded to kiss the victim on her lips and touch her genitals over her shorts. After 10 minutes, the timer that the victim had set rang, and she stopped the accused.'
Kok then tried to persuade the victim to perform a sexual act on him, but she turned down his repeated requests.
The pair went down to the ground floor of the block and parted ways.
But at around 6.45pm, Kok sent the girl a message asking how she felt when he touched her.
He invited her to his home later that evening, offering her $50. She turned down the offer, said the prosecutor.
Undeterred, Kok invited the girl to his home again at around 11am the next day. She replied that she was in school at the time.
DPP Yeo said: 'Later... the accused asked the victim what time she would be able to go to his house the following day. The victim asked him to pay the amount that he owed her from their first arrangement and promised to send him nude pictures of herself when she got home from school.'
However, Kok replied that he wanted 'real action', and the girl later blocked him on WhatsApp.
He then deleted her number and their chat log as he did not want his wife to find out about what he had done.
Without revealing details, the prosecutor said that the mother of one of the victim's online friends later found out about the incidents.
The woman alerted the police in February and Kok was arrested the following month. - The Straits Times/ANN