SINGAPORE – A workplace and safety hygiene manager created fake Facebook and Carousell accounts using a female teenager’s name and photos in the hope of befriending girls online.
Chew Koh Leong, 45, later admitted that he had done so as he wanted to date girls secretly without letting his wife find out.
On Dec 22, he pleaded guilty and was convicted on two charges of obtaining sexual services from a person below the age of 18, and another for trying to get a child below the age of 16 to carry out an obscene or indecent at.
The victim cannot be named.
The court heard Chew created a Carousell account using a fake name and photo some time in 2022.
He admitted to using Carousell as he felt that it would be easier to hide his intentions from his wife as it is a platform for buying and selling goods.
In March 2022, he came across a posting of a dress for sale at $18. He then contacted the seller to buy the dress.
Impersonating a girl, he said he would send a brother – himself – to collect the dress and requested her mobile number.
While speaking to her as the “brother”, Chew found out that the seller was in secondary school.
He subsequently offered to pay her for sexual services, and she accepted some of his requests as she wanted the money.
Chew would request that she wear specific types of clothing when they met, including tank tops, as he wanted to see more of her chest.
He admitted during investigations that he knew the girl was 13 years old at the time.
On one occasion in August 2022, Chew asked if the girl could perform a sex act on him or let him kiss her in exchange for $400, but was rejected by the girl.
In October 2022, he arranged to meet the girl at a shopping mall in the northern area of Singapore.
When they met, he took her to his car that was parked in the mall’s multi-storey carpark and drove her to a corner where nobody was around. They moved to the back seat, after which he paid her $150 to hug her and touch her over her underwear.
He later dropped the girl off at an MRT station.
In May 2023, he again offered the girl $150 to allow him to hug and touch her. The pair met again in the same carpark but found that there were people around.
The man suggested going to the nearest staircase in the carpark. There, he hugged her from behind and touched her under her school uniform.
Chew will be sentenced on March 4, 2026.
Those found guilty of obtaining sexual services from a minor can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both.
Offenders can be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to $10,000, or both if found guilty of getting or trying to get a child below the age of 16 to carry out an obscene or indecent act.