S’porean man, 28, raped girl, 13, whom he met online, gets 8 years & 9 months’ jail & 6 strokes of cane

A 28-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to eight years and nine months’ jail and six strokes of the cane for raping a 13-year-old girl he met online.

Kevin Tan Jia Hut pleaded guilty to one charge of rape on Jun. 9, The Straits Times reported.

Three other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

A gag order was imposed to protect the girl’s identity.

Met online

In court documents seen by Mothership, Tan and the girl met in May 2023 on Omegle, a discontinued online video-conferencing platform where users were anonymously matched with others for one-on-one video or text exchanges.

Tan was 25 at that time.

The exchanges between him and her became sexual, and they switched communications to Telegram.

They spoke about meeting up to have sex.

Sexual acts

In June 2023, Tan and the girl met at a staircase of a public housing block near the girl’s home at night.

She performed a sexual act on him and left soon after, informing him that she had to leave as she snuck out of her house.

On the night of Jul. 7 2023, the pair was communicating on Telegram when the girl said she wanted to have sex.

As his mother and sister were overseas at the time, Tan booked a private-hire car to take her to his home.

The girl arrived at Tan’s home on Jul. 8, 2023, at about 2:22am.

They proceeded to have intercourse with a condom in his room.

Tan then booked her another private-hire car to return home.

Report

Two days after the incident on Jul. 10, 2023, the girl’s mother lodged a police report stating that her daughter claimed that she was raped.

What made the girl tell her mother was not disclosed.

The girl later told police that she had engaged in sexual acts with multiple men.

Investigations revealed that Tan was one of those men.

He was arrested on Aug. 10, 2023.

Prosecution

The prosecution sought a jail term of nine to nine-and-a-half years and six strokes of the cane.

They noted that what Tan did was “no youthful folly”.

“The sentence imposed must give proper expression to the foremost sentencing consideration of deterrence,” the prosecution said.

Those who have sex with a minor below the age of 14, with or without consent, can be liable to a jail term of up to 20 years, fine or caning.