Man sentenced to five months’ jail for sex with minor

SINGAPORE — The fifth man to challenge the accusation that he had commercial sex with an underage prostitute was yesterday sentenced to five months’ jail — the stiffest sentence to be handed out in the case so far.

Emlyn Thomas Thariyan, 38, was convicted of paying the 17-year-old girl S$500 for sex in February 2011 after a 10-day trial earlier this year. He is the 28th of 51 men in the high-profile online vice-ring case to be dealt with.

In its written submissions, the prosecution asked for Thariyan to be jailed for five months. Defence lawyers, however, urged the court to impose the minimum sentence.

Through his lawyer, Thariyan made a request to address the court, which was allowed by District Judge Eugene Teo.

The accused, a Singapore Armed Forces Lieutenant Colonel, started by saying he had “served this country impeccably”, adding that he had given up two years of his time over this case.

Standing in the dock, he said the crux of the case was that it was a matter of the minor’s words against the accused.

Thariyan then told the court that, although he had been convicted of the offence, he felt he was “not guilty of this charge”. But the District Judge said he had previously explained the matter.

Thariyan, who is appealing against the conviction and sentence, is the fifth to be sentenced after claiming trial.

Ex-navy engineer Kwa Wee Nam, Indonesian Reyner Suhartono and business consultant Edward Whistler Goh Ngian Meng each got four months’ jail, while Swiss banker Juerg Buergin completed a 19-week jail term.

Claire Huang