A man whose wife was pregnant with their third child courted a 16-year-old girl via a dating app and engaged in a sexual tryst with her last year, a court heard.

When she found out about his marital status and didn’t want to continue the relationship, Mohamed Shalihin Mohamed Hafidz, a 23-year-old aviation logistics officer, tried to cajole her by saying her “skills” in the bedroom were better than those of his wife.

When flattery didn’t work, the philanderer admitted that he liked to find girls to “play with”.

When that failed as well, he lied to her that he had a video of her performing a sexual act on him. Shalihin said he would only delete the video if she were to perform the sexual act again.

But the intimidation landed him in prison. At the State Courts on Monday (10 December), Shalihin, who is now 24 and expecting his fourth child, was handed a seven-month jail term, having pleaded guilty to one count of criminal intimidation.

Accused used fictitious name on dating app

The court heard that Shalihin downloaded an online dating app in March last year. He used a fictitious name as he did not want his wife to find out about it. The details of the app were not made known in court.

In early June last year, Shalihin and the victim started chatting online via the app. The victim believed that Shalihin was single, and the two exchanged nude photos or videos of each other.

Soon, Shalihin asked the teen to meet at a hotel to have sex. She agreed but said she was unable to go to the hotel due to her age. The victim then invited him to her house.

At about 3.15pm on 8 June last year, Shalihin met the victim at her home. They went to her bedroom, but she claimed she was having her period. She then performed a sexual act on him.

At about 10am the next morning, Shalihin admitted to her that he was actually married with children. The victim was upset upon hearing Shalihin’s background.

Accused liked to find girls to ‘play with’

Shalihin tried to cajole her to have intimate relations with him, to no avail.

About one week after they met, he again asked the teen to meet him for sex. The victim refused and told him to think about his family. Shalihin lied that his relationship with his wife was not doing well.

Sometime between 20 and 23 June last year, Shalihin told the victim that his marriage was unstable and that he liked to find girls to “play with”. She told him to find other girls instead.

Shalihin then claimed to have taken a video of her performing a sexual act on him. He said he would only delete it she she did the same act again.

At about 4.15pm the same day, he met her at the void deck of her grandmother’s home. They went to a staircase landing, and she again asked for the video to be deleted. But Shalihin refused and told her to perform a sexual act on him first.

Fearful that he would circulate the video, she complied.

Immediately after, she requested once more for the video to be deleted. Shalihin then admitted that there was no such video and he had not filmed her at all.

Shalihin was arrested on 24 October last year after the victim filed a police report.

Deterrent sentence warranted

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jarret Huang asked for nine to 10 months’ jail. He pointed out, among other things, the “sheer youth” of the victim and that Shalihin had succeeded in his “perverse objectives”.

Shalihin was previously sentenced to probation for unlawful assembly and jailed two months for going absent without leave from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

Defence lawyer Ashwin Ganapathy argued for eight weeks’ jail, saying the offence was committed “on the spur of the moment and it was a one-off transgression”.

Shalihin, whose three children are aged one to four, is expecting his fourth child in February next year. Besides being the sole breadwinner of his family, he is also caring for his two younger siblings who are still studying as both his parents are behind bars, the lawyer said.

To show his remorse, Shalihin penned an apology to the victim.

District Judge Marvin Bay said a deterrent sentence was warranted to deter possible like-minded offenders.

For his offence, Shalihin could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.

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