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Corpun file 26684 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 23 April 2018
Youth who sexually preyed on more than 10 young victims gets 16 years' jail and 15 strokes
By Selina Lum
Law Correspondent
After befriending girls aged 12 and 13 on social media, Goh Kar Aip chatted to them about sex-related topics, before progressing to asking them to send him their nude pictures.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAOSINGAPORE -- A 20-year-old man who used social media to befriend girls as young as 12 and committed a string of sexual offences against more than 10 of them, was on Monday (April 23) sentenced to 16 years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane.
Justice Kannan Ramesh agreed with prosecutors that it was a "reprehensible case that should be met with disapprobation and censure by the court".
The High Court judge said the charges against Goh Kar Aip reveal a pattern of behaviour -- "trawling and prowling social media to target and ensnare pubescent girls for sexual exploitation".
Justice Ramesh said Goh's behaviour showed a degree of exploitation that was "quite astounding". One 12-year-old wanted to break up with Goh after their first sexual encounter but he terrified her into meeting him again by threatening to send their text conversations on sex-related topics to her school.
After he was sentenced, Goh tried to defer his prison term for two weeks, saying that he needed to take care of his mother who has been suffering severe headaches.
The request was denied by the judge, who said Goh has had more than ample time to address the issue. The judge noted that when the case was last mentioned on March 27, Goh had asked for, and was given, a two-week deferment for sentencing.
The court was told that between 2014 and 2016, Goh, a Singapore permanent resident, started using social media to look for young girls.
He messaged his targets privately, introducing himself as "Kai". While some ignored him, others responded and chatted with him. After getting to know them, Goh moved on to sexual topics and asked them for photos of their abdomens.
Once he gained their confidence, he would ask for their nude pictures. Sometimes, he would send them pictures of his genitalia in the hope that they would reciprocate.
He would then meet and sexually violate them.
His offences came to light when a teacher discovered that one of her students was in a relationship with him and had taken three of her schoolmates to meet him. Goh committed sexual offences against the girl and two of the three friends. A police report was lodged on March 19, 2016.
Another picture of Goh Kar Aip, seen at an earlier hearing (from TODAY, 27 March 2018)On Feb 19, 2018, Goh pleaded guilty to four charges -- three of sexual penetration of a minor and one of sexual assault by penetration. Another 34 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
All 38 charges related to 10 victims aged between 12 and 13.
They included one charge of criminal intimidation for threatening to locate and tie up a 12-year-old girl who refused to send him photographs of herself. She was the only one of the 10 who did not become a sex victim.
On March 27, another seven new charges were brought against him relating to three more victims. These arose following reports of Goh's case in the newspapers.
Corpun file 26685 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 26 April 2018
Ex-gang leader, 25, gets 28 year's jail and 24 strokes of the cane for underage rape
By Selina Lum
Law Correspondent
Koh Rong Guang, who is also known as Charles, was sentenced to 28 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane on April 26, 2018.
ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOWSINGAPORE -- A 25-year-old salesman, who was the leader of a youth gang when he repeatedly raped a girl when she was 13, was sentenced to 28 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane on Thursday (April 26).
The High Court said a stiff sentence was warranted to reflect his culpability and to deter him and others from committing such offences. "There were clear aggravating factors and in my view, no mitigating circumstances," said Judicial Commissioner Audrey Lim.
Koh Rong Guang, who is also known as Charles, is filing an appeal and was granted bail, which was increased from $80,000 to $100,000.
Koh had claimed trial to 12 charges -- four of statutory rape, one of sexual assault by penetration, three of criminal intimidation, two of committing an indecent act with a young person, one of causing hurt and one of circulating a nude photo of the girl.
The rapes took place at the staircase of a karaoke outlet in Choa Chu Kang Centre and the staircase of a block of flats in Choa Chu Kang Crescent, near the Yew Tee Foodfare coffee shop.
During his trial, Koh denied the charges, insisting that he had never touched the girl, who is now 17. He contended that she had made up the allegations to get back at him for posting photos of her in sexually explicit poses with his "best bro" in the gang, Fu Yiming.
Last month, the court found him guilty of 11 charges.
Koh was acquitted of the first rape charge as the court found that there was no corroboration of the victim's account.
On Thursday, it emerged in court that Koh was on probation for rioting with a deadly weapon when he committed the offences between November 2013 and January 2014.
"Despite being given the opportunity at rehabilitation, the accused had failed to turn over a new leaf. Instead, he graduated to more heinous crimes," said Deputy Public Prosecutor David Khoo.
The prosecutor argued that Koh treated the victim as someone to have sex with and then discard once he was done toying with her.
He said Koh's carefully planned offences were carried out against a vulnerable child "who faced significant barriers to seeking help amid the cycle of abuse she was entangled in".
DPP Khoo said the girl was already being abused by her father, and Koh's offences added to the psychological damage she suffered. She resorted to self-harm to cope with Koh's persistent sexual assault and the scars remain on her arms, said the DPP.
The prosecutor argued that Koh not only raped her and made her strip to take nude photos of her, but he also offered her to his friends as if she was his property.
In a separate incident, one of the teens, Alson Tan Yu Seng, 15, went on to rape the girl while two of his friends pinned her down.
Tan told his friends -- Bryan Ong Jing Chong and Tan Wei Guang -- he had seen his headman rape the girl and suggested that they have sex with her. The trio played a game of scissors-paper-stone to decide who would go first.
But the two friends did not go on to rape the girl as the trio were interrupted. They were charged with abetting Alson Tan.
All three were sentenced to reformative training.
SPH Digital News / Copyright © 2018 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved
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