Man charged for sexual offences against at least 31 boys

SINGAPORE — He would befriend boys on Facebook under a false persona and earn their trust by acting as a big brother to them. Later, he would ask to meet up, with the aim of having sex with them. When the boys were reluctant, Yap Weng Wah would cajole and persuade them into complying.

Between November 2009 and June 2012, Yap committed sexual offences against at least 31 boys aged 11 to 15, in what is believed to be one of the worst such cases here. His deeds came to light when one of the victims’ sister checked her brother’s mobile phone.

Yap was arrested in September 2012 and over 2,000 videos of his sexual acts — including with the 31 victims — were found on his laptop and phone. Some acts were also found to have been conducted in Malaysia with 14 boys, as a result of how Yap stored and named the videos, but these are outside of Singapore’s jurisdiction.

Yap, a 31-year-old Malaysian, today (Jan 16) pleaded guilty and was convicted of 12 charges of sexual penetration of a minor, 11 of which involved persons below 14. Ten of the charges involved anal penetration while the other two charges involved oral sex.

He agreed to have 64 other charges — one of which related to procuring an obscene video from a boy — taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Yap, who is fair and slim, would use his mobile phone to film the sex acts with the victims’ knowledge. But when some victims asked for footage to be deleted, Yap — who came to Singapore in 2009 and was a quality assurance engineer — would agree but fail to do so.

Some of his victims met him after the first sexual encounter for different reasons. Some were lonely and wanted his company, others were worried he would distribute the video footage. The acts were committed in various locations including Yap’s rented flats and Hougang and Kallang Bahru swimming complexes.

Deputy Public Prosecutor David Khoo pressed for at least 30 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane for Yap, citing aggravating factors such as the level of premeditation, the targeting of a particular group of vulnerable victims, the lack of protection used during sexual penetration and the psychological harm to his victims.

Mr Khoo argued that Yap should be prevented from offending again, and like-minded individuals at large should also be deterred by the consequences of such offences.

In his written mitigation, defence lawyer Daniel Koh said Yap was sexually abused by a maths teacher when he was about 12 years old. Mr Koh said his client is willing to seek treatment and had strong family support.

Yap also addressed High Court judge Woo Bih Li, expressing shame and remorse. He was tearful and broke down when apologising to the victims and their families, vowing never to “inflict immoral acts” on underaged persons and teenagers again.

His mother and younger sister and brother, who have travelled from Ipoh in Malaysia to visit him in prison every week since he was locked up in September 2012, were in court with an aunt.

The prosecution and defence will make further submissions on sentencing and Justice Woo will sentence Yap at a later date.