SINGAPORE : A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty on
Wednesday to committing indecent acts with a 14-year-old girl whom
he had met online.
Lee Guo Qiang faced three charges of committing an
obscene act with a minor. She had performed oral sex on
him.
Two charges were proceeded with and one was taken
into consideration.
The tanned and stocky man committed the offences between August and
October 2009 - when he was an ITE student - at a staircase landing
at Woodlands Avenue 1.
The victim, a secondary school student, cannot be named to protect
her identity.
Investigations revealed that both Lee and the girl got to know each
other online in January 2009, and they later started exchanging
emails and handphone numbers.
The girl, who was 12 at the time, also sent a nude picture of
herself at his request.
Both eventually met at a staircase landing at Woodlands in
September 2009, after the girl's PSLE exams, and the indecent acts
were committed there.
A second similar incident took place sometime in September or
October 2009, at the girl's home.
The matter came to light when the girl's father found out that she
had been sending topless photographs of herself to someone she had
met online.
He contacted Lee and confronted him, before reporting him to the
police.
The court heard in Lee's mitigation plea that he suffered from
emotional trauma and could not control himself.
Lee, who did not have a lawyer, said he was the breadwinner of the
family, and had hoped for a fine.
In response, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Paul Wong said that the
offence was pre-meditated and the accused had taken advantage of
her youth.
DPP Wong also noted that the incident was not isolated and Lee did
not end the sexual relationship until the girl's father found out
about them.
A pre-sentence report for Lee has been called for, and he will be
back in court on July 27.
He can face up to two years in jail and fined S$5,000.
- CNA /ls
