Man poses as 15-year-old boy online to exploit 13-year-old girl, gets 11 years’ jail and 10 strokes of the cane

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man who posed as a teenager online to deceive underage girls has been sentenced to 11 years in jail and 10 strokes of the cane, after the court found that he exploited a 13-year-old through repeated lies about his age.

The man, now 25, admitted to multiple serious offences involving a minor. The case demonstrates how online deception can cloud judgment and expose young people to harm from such predators, especially when trust is carefully manufactured over time.

According to a report by 8world News, the offences began in August 2023, when the man was 22 years old. He met a 13-year-old girl online and claimed he was only 15 and still in school. When she questioned him about his appearance, he just said he looked older because of his genes. The same explanation later appeared in court records.

When they met soon after, the man continued to push boundaries and pressured the girl into acts she had no prior experience with. Meetings became frequent, often at stairwells in housing estates. At times, she was still in her school uniform.

In January 2024, while the girl was still 13, she hesitated and said she felt uncomfortable to continue performing intimate acts with the man. She eventually gave in after the man persuaded her. Afterward, she cried and worried about getting pregnant, to which he told her not to worry and assured her that she would not.

In March 2024, the girl came across a medical document belonging to the man and realised he was actually around 23 years old. Even then, contact between them continued for some time until the relationship ended in September 2024.

Court documents showed this was not an isolated case. While still involved with the first girl, the man contacted another child, a 12-year-old. He again lied about his age and steered conversations inappropriately. When the second child refused to meet his demands, he sent her a message saying, “Waste my time”.

That exchange was later discovered during a phone check by the child’s teacher in February 2024. Her family reported the matter to the police. Months later, the first girl’s brother also found troubling messages and alerted their parents. A police report was filed the same day. The man was then arrested by the authorities.

Prosecutors argued that a strong sentence was needed to deter adults who use age deception to target minors online. The court agreed.

Under Singapore law, any physical act involving a child below 14 is treated as a grave offence, regardless of consent. The maximum punishment can reach 20 years’ jail, along with a fine or caning.

For unlawful physical acts involving a minor aged above 14 but below 16, an offender may face up to 10 years’ jail, a fine, or both. For grooming a child below 14, the maximum punishment is four years’ jail, a fine, or both. If the child is above 14, the maximum jail term is three years.

Cases like this show how easily trust can be engineered in private digital spaces, long before adults step in. Enforcement often begins only after a teacher, sibling, or parent spots something amiss. By then, the damage may already be done.

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