Jail for married man who had sex with a 15-year-old even after she told him her age

SINGAPORE: A married father of one agreed to pay a girl $1,600 (RM4,737) for her companionship, and had sex with her even after she had told him she was 15-years-old.

The girl, who is now 17, had come to know Adrian Tan Lee Guan through an online website known as Seeking Arrangement in November 2016.

The following month, he had sex with her multiple times and also asked her for oral sex.

On Tuesday (Feb 20), the 45-year-old former business development director was jailed for 24 months after he admitted to three of five charges of sexual penetration of a minor.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Raja Mohan told the court the victim and Tan had exchanged contact numbers and started chatting through WhatsApp after she came to know him online. Tan continued engaging with her even after she told him her age.

On Dec 15, 2016, he picked her up from her home and took her to the Pan Pacific Hotel for dinner, followed by drinks at the Capella in Sentosa. They had oral sex at the pool and again in his car when he was taking her home.

Three days later, she met him at an HDB void deck to collect $1,600.

After handing her the money, he drove her to a multi-storey carpark in Hougang Street 91, where they had sex.

Seeking a sentence of at least 24 months' jail, DPP Raja Mohan argued that Tan had sexually exploited a 15-year-old girl and had no qualms about degrading her.

"There is an element of moral corruption given that the accused enticed the victim to engage in sexual acts with him with the lure of money," he said.

In his mitigation plea, Tan's lawyer Kannan SG said his client had made a "foolish mistake" of not refraining from going any further once he had found out her age. He is undergoing divorce proceedings.

Tan could have been jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined on each charge of having sex with a person below 16-years-old. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network