Teen girl's pimp gambled away her earnings

He forced her to work here as a prostitute, earning about $9,000 from providing sexual services on about 150 occasions over 15 days. And he made sure that the underage China girl did not see a cent of it.

Pimp Tang Huisheng took all the money and blew it as part of a $19,000 gambling spree at the Marina Bay Sands casino. But such bravado was missing on Friday The 37-year-old pleaded guilty to four out of seven vice-related charges, reversing an earlier intent to claim trial - to the surprise of prosecutors. He had flown the 17-year-old here to work the streets of Geylang, where she serviced around 100 clients who paid about $60 a time.

Deputy public prosecutors Stella Tan Wei Ling and Elizabeth Chua told Community Court Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan the horrific tale of how the minor - who cannot be named - ended up leaving China to become a prostitute in Singapore.

Tang's sister lured the teenager to the city of Zhuhai where he drugged her with methamphetamine, or Ice, and had sex with her while she was in a stupor. If she refused his demands for sex he would beat or threaten her.

When Tang told her he was going to take her to Singapore where he would be her pimp, she refused, knowing Tang had worked as a pimp for many years and had other girls working for him. He locked her up for more than a week in a fifth-floor unit in Zhuhai. She tried to escape but hurt her waist and was caught by Tang and his sister, who then assaulted her and threatened to harm her family.

Tang's sister also threatened to splash acid on her face if she did not listen to them and tried to run away again. Tang kept all her belongings, including her passport. He and the minor flew to Singapore on May16. Two days later he took her to Geylang to start work. Tang would stand near her whenever she was soliciting, acting as her lookout and helping to find customers.

He used her earnings to pay for rent, other expenses and gambling, said Ms Tan. After Tang saw the girl being arrested by police on June 1, he made his way to the Marina Bay Sands casino the same day.

Over the next four days he cashed in a total of $19,100 and lost $18,300. Investigations revealed that he brought forward his return flight home to Guangzhou from June 10 to June 5. He was arrested on his way to the airport. Two charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced. The seventh charge will be withdrawn. Ms Tan applied for a short adjournment to address the court on sentence.

Tang has been remanded since June as he could not raise the $15,000 bail. This was doubled on Friday after his conviction for bringing in the minor here to work as a prostitute, living on her earnings, harbouring her and abetting a customer who paid $100 for sex with her.

Tang will be back in court on Oct 2. He faces a jail term of up to five years and a fine of up to $10,000 on each of the Women's Charter offences. For abetting the customer to have paid sex with the minor, he could be jailed for up to seven years and/or fined.

To date, 13 of 24 men charged with commercial sex with the minor have been jailed between 11 and 12 weeks each . Two others who have pleaded guilty had their sentencing postponed. More are expected to be charged and investigations are ongoing.

elena@sph.com.sg

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