Man jailed 10 months for underage sex

Man jailed 10 months for underage sex

SINGAPORE - She was just 14 and he, 21, when they met through a friend in July last year.

About a month later, they became a couple and had sex.

It did not take long for the law to catch up with Yuen Zhi Jian, who was sentenced to 10 months' jail yesterday for having sex with a person under the age of 16.

The girl, who cannot be named because of a gag order protecting her identity, was working part-time in a fast food outlet when she met Yuen.

Now a Secondary 4 student, she told him that she would turn 15 later that year.

In August last year, she went to Yuen's home in Clementi and spent the night.

As the pair were lying together, they started hugging and kissing. When Yuen wanted to have sexual intercourse, the girl expressed reluctance at first.

But he managed to change her mind, and they had protected sex.

When they woke up the following day, they were sexually intimate again. When Yuen wanted the girl to perform a sex act on him, she was again reluctant.

But she relented after Yuen persuaded her.

They broke off their relationship after that day, because the girl was jealous that Yuen was still in touch with his former girlfriend.

Their sexual activity emerged when the girl disclosed her past to a youth guidance officer.

In January this year, a child protection officer from the Ministry of Social and Family Development made a police report about the matter, stating that the girl told her about having sex with three different boys between 2011 and last year.

ARREST

After the girl's disclosures of her sexual activities, Yuen was arrested and admitted that he knew the girl was under the age of 16 at the time of their sexual encounters.

Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to two charges of having sex with a person below 16.

Two similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

In mitigation, Yuen's lawyer said he had gone out with the girl a number of times before having sex with her, and that he was remorseful for what he did.

In reply, the prosecution said Yuen had received a warning for a similar offence in 2010.

For each of his offences, Yuen could have been jailed up to 10 years, fined, or both.


This article was first published on November 25, 2014.
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