SINGAPORE: A man who exploited 31 victims and obtained sexual services from some of them, including underaged girls, was sentenced to 81 months’ jail and six strokes of the cane on Wednesday (Apr 16).
Hee Lic Yuan, 32, pleaded guilty to 15 charges in January, with another 44 taken into consideration for sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min sought a sentence of at least 100 to 107 months’ jail with seven to nine strokes of the cane, given the seriousness of the offences.
Hee’s lawyer Tanaya Kinjavdekar from Trident Law Corporation urged the judge to consider a lighter sentence since the offender has realised “the severity” of his acts.
She said that Hee, who was arrested on Mar 31 in 2021, had “voluntarily revoked” his bail as a means for him to seek penance.
She added he had sought psychiatric help and was diagnosed with compulsive sexual behavioural disorder, which was found to have a “contributory link” to his offending.
The court also heard that Hee has been practising abstinence from all sexual behaviours.
Delivering his sentence on Wednesday, District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong pointed out that there was a “large number” of victims in this case and that Hee’s offences were “highly meditated”.
He said that the onus was on the accused not to take advantage of young victims, adding that he, as well as likeminded offenders, cannot downplay their blame by relying on the victim’s “perceived willingness” to comply with their requests.
This would likely stem from the victims’ immaturity or lack of financial resources, the judge added.
WHAT HAPPENED
Hee, who was a business analyst with a bank at the time of his offences from 2019 to 2021, had hatched a plan to cheat women and girls into giving him explicit photos and sexual services.
He promised to pay them, but never did so.
He would approach the victims online and ask them to be his “sugar babies”, offering payment for explicit photos and videos. He also obtained sexual services from some of the victims.
Before 2020, he paid for nude photos and sexual services with females aged 16 to 20. He also took voyeuristic photos of people at his workplace, on public transport and from his bedroom window.
Sometime in 2020, he devised a plan to cheat his victims in order to obtain sexually explicit images and sexual services without paying for them.
He created multiple Instagram, TikTok and Telegram accounts and used these to send them messages.
Posing as a wealthy man looking for a sugar baby, he quoted prices for explicit photos or videos even though he did not intend to pay the victims.
He used this method to cheat 31 female victims into sending him sexually explicit photos and videos and providing him with sexual services.
The prosecution proceeded with 15 charges that included sexual penetration of minors, communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services, producing child abuse material, exploitative sexual communication with minors, threatening to distribute intimate images of victims and obtaining services fraudulently.
The court heard details of these offences, which involved 11 different victims aged between 13 and 20.
His crimes came to light on Mar 20 in 2021 after one of his victims, then 15, called the police to inform them that she had been sexually assaulted. Hee was later arrested.
