Man jailed for sex with girl, 13, he met online

A man who had sex with an underage girl he befriended through Facebook was jailed for 10 months yesterday.

Syahrul Mohd Hanafiah was 21 when he had sex with the 13-year-old student at a Geylang hotel some time before May 2011.

Syahrul, now 25, pleaded guilty last week to one count of underage sex, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail and a fine.

A district court heard that the victim, who is now 16, got to know Syahrul through the social media platform in early 2011.

They began chatting on Facebook and subsequently became a "Facebook couple".

Some time before her 14th birthday, she met him for the first time at Compass Point in Sengkang.

He took her to the hotel on his motorcycle and had sex with her.

After that, the two did not meet and did not remain in touch.

The victim's father lodged a police report in March 2012, after her counsellor found out what had happened and told him to do so.

This article was first published on Sep 18, 2014.
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