Andy Kow Yong Wen, 42, was jailed three months for attempting to obtain sexual services from an underage person. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — The 42-year-old man first got to know the 16-year-old girl through her post on the Locanto classifieds network in which she advertised her sexual services.

Even after finding out her age, he continued to ask the teenager for sex and ended up violating her when they finally met in person.

At the State Courts on Wednesday (10 April), Andy Kow Yong Wen was jailed three months for attempting to obtain sexual services from an underage person. According to the prosecution, which sought a six-month sentence, this was the first conviction of its kind for such a charge.

Accused aware of victim’s age

Sometime between July and August 2017, the girl advertised her sexual services on Locanto. She stated that she could perform sex acts but not have sexual intercourse.

On 1 August, Kow responded to the girl’s post and offered to be her sugar daddy. For the next 12 days, the girl sent Kow photos of herself. She also revealed her age to him during this time.

Despite knowing her age, Kow still persisted in discussing the girl’s sexual services and offered her $500 to have sex with him.

The pair met in person later that month when Koh offered to give the girl a lift to her tuition venue in his car. Instead of dropping her off, however, Kow drove her to the carpark of the IKEA outlet at Alexandra Road.

While parked there, he kissed the girl and unbuttoned her shorts. He then sexually violated her and stopped only when she said she was late for her tuition lesson.

After asking the girl if she had money to eat, Kow handed her $50 before she left.

The girl’s mother lodged a police report on 25 August 2017 after discovering Kow’s messages on her daughter’s mobile phone.

‘Exploited the victim’s youth’: DPP

Kow’s lawyer, Peter Ong, said his client had sought companionship from the teenager.

“It was a momentary lapse of judgment of wanting to get a companion that he has fallen into this situation,” said Ong, who asked for a fine or short jail term for Kow.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Raja Mohan, however, said Kow was persistent in repeatedly seeking to engage in paid sex with the victim despite her refusals.

“Kow eventually achieved what he set out to do. He exploited the victim’s youth and vulnerability by engaging in sexual acts with the victim,” he said.

District Judge John Ng objected to the DPP’s point, however, stating that it would be tantamount to convicting him of obtaining sexual services rather than its attempt.

The judge found the prosecution’s term too high as Kow had not carried out a sex act for money.

“That said, the sentence to be passed on (Kow) cannot be a slap on the wrist but has to be of sufficient punishment as to send out a deterrent message to discourage people from trying to gain the trust of immature girls for the purpose of commercial sex with them,” said the judge.

The judge noted that this was regardless of whether these girls had “actively attracted the attention of men”.

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