SINGAPORE: Former actor Fang Weijie, better known as Ian Fang, surrendered himself to the State Courts just before noon on June 16 to begin his 40-month jail sentence.
The 35-year-old had pleaded guilty on May 19 to three counts of sexually penetrating an underage girl.
Five other charges, including sexual penetration of an underage girl, harassment and obstructing the course of justice, were taken into account during sentencing.
Fang, who was accompanied by a woman identified as his mother, spoke to the media outside the State Courts.
“I definitely will try my best to be a better person, a better version of myself. It is an expensive and very huge mistake that I need to pay off.
“I believe it will definitely make me a better person. I really hope that everyone can give me a chance, to show that I can be the person you want me to be,” he said, bowing after he made the comments.
Fang had pleaded guilty on May 19 to sexual offences against a student, who was 15 years old at the time. She cannot be named because of a court-imposed gag order.
Fang first met the victim on May 4, 2024, and exchanged contact details with her. The pair conversed daily and grew closer.
Between June and July 2024, Fang had sex with the teen on nine occasions.
The prosecution said he had unprotected sex with the teen on five of the occasions. He used a condom only when she insisted.
At the time of the offences, Fang was employed as an acting teacher at First Model School, a modelling school for children aged between four and 14.
He was previously an actor with national broadcaster Mediacorp until May 2023.
The girl’s mother made a police report some time in August 2024, after she learnt that the pair had been having sexual relations.
After police investigations began, Fang contacted the girl through social media, asking her to contact him despite being warned by officers not to contact her.
During their conversations, he told her he would commit suicide if he had to go to jail.
The prosecution said in court in earlier proceedings that the girl had suicidal thoughts after Fang kept contacting her to ask her to persuade her mother to withdraw the charges.
She was eventually admitted to the Institute of Mental Health and diagnosed with adjustment disorder.
The prosecution added that she will “continue to live with the burden of Fang’s actions, even with the conclusion of this case”. - The Straits Times/ANN
