SINGAPORE — A gynaecologist, who had sex with a minor even though he knew she was more than 40 years his junior when he met her for the first time, was yesterday sentenced to 10 months in jail.

Last October, Ong Theng Kiat, 63, pleaded guilty to two charges of having sex with a minor and had 11 other charges, which included oral sex, taken into consideration.

Yesterday, Ong pleaded guilty to one other charge of breaching the Medical Registration Act by giving a false declaration in order to obtain a medical practising certificate on July 31 last year. For this, he was fined S$4,000.

Earlier, the court heard that Ong got to know the girl in 2011 through a dating website when she was 14, and he, 61. She indicated on her profile that she was 18 as that was the minimum age required to register an account on the website.

Ong sent the girl a lengthy message and the pair then exchanged phone numbers and began texting each other. It was through these texts that the girl informed Ong that she was 14.

After he asked her to meet him, the court heard that the pair met four times — in September 2011 and sometime in early 2012.

The court was told that at their first meeting in September, Ong drove the girl to Bukit Brown Cemetery where she changed out of her school uniform. Ong told the girl that he was 40 and that his work was related to stocks.

Later, he took her to a hotel where they had sex. He then asked her to take two morning-after pills.

Then in early 2012, Ong picked the girl up from school and proceeded to the cemetery, where they had sex in the backseat of his car.

Last October, Ong’s lawyers submitted a psychiatric report to the court to show that there was a causal link between his offences and his major depressive disorder.

However, Prosecutor Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz argued there was no causal link.

Ong’s lawyer Sunil Sudheesan yesterday urged the court to show leniency as the death of Ong’s wife had a great impact on him.

District Judge Soh Tze Bian said that regardless of consent, there is a need for deterrence given the vulnerability of the girl.

Noting that the sentencing range for such cases is between 10 and 15 months’ jail, the judge said there was no reason to impose a lower sentence as submitted by the defence.