S’porean man pretended to be 16 & had sex with girl, 13, claimed older women 'vexing' to talk to

When a 23-year-old Singaporean man befriended a 13-year-old girl on social media in 2021, he decided to pretend that he was only 16 years old to further his sexual advances.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the man, Cuthbert Yeaw Li Ming, now 27 years old, preferred making sexual advances on young females as "he found it vexing to do so with older women".

Between Feb. 10 and Feb. 25, 2021, Yeaw communicated sexually with the girl, asked for her nude photos, and had sex with her at her residence on three occasions.

Throughout this time, Yeaw's offences remained under the radar as the girl would remind him to leave before her parents returned home on each occasion.

Yeaw's deeds were only uncovered on Feb. 25, 2021, when the girl's mother returned home early and saw him and the girl lying naked on the girl's bed.

The girl's grandmother subsequently alerted the police, and Yeaw was arrested on the same day.

Befriended girl on Instagram

Court documents revealed that Yeaw befriended the girl on Instagram sometime on Feb. 10, 2021.

They subsequently exchanged contact numbers and moved their conversation to WhatsApp.

When the girl told Yeaw her age during their conversation, he lied about his age by telling her he was 16 years old.

Later that day, the girl invited Yeaw to her home, where they chatted for some time before engaging in sexual acts in her bedroom.

Shortly after, the girl informed Yeaw that her parents would be returning home soon, and he left the unit.

Around a week later, Yeaw met the girl again at her residence on Feb. 18, 2021.

After they had sex in her bedroom, Yeaw left the unit as the girl told him that her parents would be home soon.

Caught red-handed by girl's mother

Yeaw's last meeting with the girl at her home took place sometime around 4:30pm on Feb. 25, 2021.

On that day, Yeaw and the girl showered together and had sex.

At one point, the girl reminded Yeaw to leave the unit before 7:15pm as her parents would be returning home.

However, the girl's mother arrived home early at around 6pm and saw Yeaw and the girl through the bedroom door, which was left ajar.

The girl's mother subsequently confronted Yeaw and told the girl's grandmother to lodge a police report.

Investigations revealed that Yeaw also asked the girl to send her nude photos and videos of her masturbating.

Befriended another girl while on bail

After his arrest in February 2021, Yeaw decided to befriend another girl, who was 16 years old at the time, on the "Tellnonym" application sometime on Mar. 14, 2022, while he was on bail.

When the girl informed him of her age, Yeaw, who was 24 years old at the time, repeated his old ruse by lying that he was a 17-year-old polytechnic student.

According to court documents, he claimed he did so "to appear more appealing to the victim" and "to further his sexual advances".

Kept asking girl for sex

After chatting on Tellnonym, Yeaw and the girl exchanged contact numbers and moved their conversation to WhatsApp on Mar. 15, 2022.

On the same day, Yeaw began initiating conversations with the girl about masturbation and sex.

At first, he asked the girl if he could masturbate for her, to which she declined and told him she was uncomfortable with the idea.

However, Yeaw persisted and asked the girl if she could masturbate him.

He also informed the girl that he could do it for her instead, but the girl refused both requests.

Undeterred, Yeaw continued asking the girl repeatedly to have sexual intercourse with him by texting her.

Two such messages cited in court documents include: "u already past the barrier 16 years old beyond can have sex, and yea low key" and "sure safe sex and sex i am fine and married to your heart alrdy bae".

He even attempted to initiate a conversation with the girl about having children together.

Persuaded girl to meet up

Eventually, Yeaw managed to persuade the girl to meet him.

When the girl told him she was only comfortable with hugging and kissing him, Yeaw acknowledged the boundary drawn.

After Yeaw and the girl met on Mar. 16, 2022, he brought her to a staircase at a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block.

Yeaw then began hugging her and asking her if they could "do it now", which he meant as performing sexual acts with the girl, according to court documents.

After removing the girl's facemask, Yeaw kissed her on the lips.

While doing so, he backed the girl on a wall and told her "not to be scared".

In response, the girl told Yeaw she could not continue as she was scared and nervous before pushing him away.

When Yeaw tried to kiss her on the lips again, she pushed him away again and told him that it was enough.

Yeaw stopped and chatted with the girl for some time before she suggested walking to a nearby mall.

The girl then messaged her friend to meet her, and Yeaw excused himself and left when her friend arrived.

Jailed & caned

Yeaw was sentenced to eight years and seven months in jail and six strokes of the cane on Dec. 3 after admitting to his offences.

He faced a total of eight charges, including sexual penetration of a minor and sexual exploitation of a young person.

During court proceedings, Yeaw's lawyer asked the judge to give him "a chance to start over", citing that Yeaw was diagnosed with "an adjustment disorder", reported Shin Min Daily News.

According to the lawyer, Yeaw only befriended the two victims because "he wanted companionship but did not know how to get along with others", reported Shin Min.

The lawyer also argued that Yeaw had "a good chance for rehabilitation" as he graduated from university and obtained a degree in business management.

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