Teen sold himself for money

New Paper
30 July 2009

Teen sold himself for money

Three men plead guilty to performing obscene acts with teen in 2006 and 2007

HE WANTED to look good and dress well.

By Arul John


So the teenager, then aged 15, decided to get money from strangers, offering 'paid fun'.

His mother knew nothing about his prostitution, though she did notice that he wore expensive clothes and had lots of money.

But an anonymous phone call out of the blue revealed the unpleasant truth in May 2007.

After she confronted her son and learnt what he was up to, she lodged a police report on 18 May that year.

According to court documents, the boy had been chatting with strangers on social networking websites since he was in Primary 3.

He came across a website popular with homosexuals here five years ago and later started posting messages and chatting there.

In December 2006, as he needed money to 'maintain his lifestyle', the boy posted messages on the website saying he was 'seeking paid fun'.

The boy cannot be named due to a court order.

Age revealed upon meeting

On the website, he said he was 16, but he revealed his real age to anyone he met personally or chatted with on the telephone.

A month or two after the boy posted the messages, Thomas Song Choon Chen, 37, responded and agreed to pay him $50 in exchange for sexual favours.

The boy told Chen his address and they met at the boy's home at 9am the same day.

When Chen arrived at the flat, the boy, who was in school uniform, told him he was actually 15 years old.

After leading Chen to his bedroom, the boy undressed himself.

Chen then performed sexual acts with the boy and paid the boy later and left.

Chen kept in touch with the boy for some time, but the relationship later ended.

Assistant nurse Muhammad Hafashah Mohd Aslam, now 21, got to know the boy online through the same website around February 2007.

The boy offered sexual services and Muhammad Hafashah agreed.

After meeting at the void deck of Muhammad Hafashah's HDB flat in Jurong West, they went to a community centre nearby. They then went to a toilet for the handicapped there.

After the sexual acts, they both cleaned up and went to an ATM nearby, where Muhammad Hafashah withdrew $100 to pay the boy.

In January 2007, Victor Ng Yong You, 25, got to know the boy via the website.

The boy offered sexual services to Ng in exchange for a lift to Wisma Atria.

Ng agreed and he went to pick up the boy.

Before heading to Wisma Atria, Ng drove him to an underground carpark in Bukit Merah to engage in sexual acts.

The two later went to Wisma Atria and Ng then dropped the boy at the boy's girlfriend's home.

Neither Muhammad Hafashah nor Ng kept in touch with the boy after the acts.

Pleaded guilty

Yesterday, Muhammad Hafashah, Ng and Song, pleaded guilty in the Subordinate Courts to one charge each of performing obscene acts with the teen.

They and three other men were earlier charged with committing unnatural offences under sections 377 and 377A of the Penal Code, but the charges were later reduced to committing obscene or indecent acts under the Children and Young Persons Act.

Muhammad Hafashah and Ng each had one other charge, which was taken into consideration.

Another man, Quek Hock Seng, 42, pleaded guilty in January to one charge and was sentenced to four months' jail.

The cases of two other men - Ng Geng Whye, 50, and Balasundram Suppiah, 40 - will be heard next month.

In his mitigation plea, Muhammad Hafashah's lawyer, Mr S Balamurugan, said his client went to the website as he was confused about his sexual orientation then.

This led him to commit the offence, which was his first, Mr Balamurugan said.

He said his client, who had since undergone counselling, was now in a relationship with a young woman, and had been accepted for a nursing course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Mr Balamurugan urged District Judge Sarjit Singh to consider probation for him.

Judge Singh asked for a pre-sentence report on Muhammad Hafashah, and his case will be heard again on 26 Aug.

Ng and Song will be sentenced on 5 Aug.

Anyone guilty of committing obscene or indecent acts with a child or young person can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.

They can be jailed up to four years and fined up to $10,000 for each subsequent offence.