Chinese national had sex with teen 3 days after meeting on QQ

The Chinese national and the student met through instant messaging service QQ.

Within three days of getting to know each other, they had sex.

He was 21; she was 14.

Slightly over a month after the incident, she made a police report saying that she had been raped.

Yesterday, former production operator Qiu Shuihua, now 23, was sentenced to four months' jail on two charges of sexually penetrating a minor under 16. Another two charges were taken into consideration.

The girl cannot be named because of a gag order protecting her identity.

The court heard that on Nov 11, 2012, Qiu got to know the 14-year-old on QQ, a Chinese instant messaging service. Both had used their real ages on the platform.

The pair exchanged contacts and met up the next day.

On Nov 14, three days after they first got acquainted, Qiu met the girl at his workplace in Bukit Batok.

As a token of her affection, she gave him a chain with a pendant that had the Chinese word for "love" on it.

After chatting for a while, they decided they wanted more privacy and he took her to a temporary container office outside his workplace. There, they engaged in heavy petting.

Before they went any further, her mobile phone rang and the pair stopped what they were doing. They left shortly after.

Two days later, on Nov 16, the girl visited Qiu at his flat in Boon Lay Drive, where they got intimate again. When Qiu asked the girl for sex, she refused.

Qiu then told the girl he was disappointed and tired of her. The girl changed her mind and they had unprotected sex.

After the incident, they lost contact.

On Dec 22, 2012, the girl made a police report saying that she had been raped by Qiu.

MITIGATION

In mitigation yesterday, defence lawyer Laurence Goh, who was representing Qiu under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, said his client realised he should have exercised more restraint.

Furthermore, Qiu had a girlfriend whom he had been seeing since arriving in Singapore, Mr Goh added.

During sentencing, District Judge Toh Yung Cheong said there was an "element of exploitation" since Qiu had committed the offences after knowing the girl for a few days.

Qiu kept his head down throughout most of the proceedings while his girlfriend sobbed in the public gallery after he was sentenced.

This article was first published on November 18, 2014.
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