SINGAPORE — When he saw the photograph of the girl he was chatting with over social media platform Snapchat, Benedict Tieng's immediate reply was that she looked as though she was nine, and later also called her a "toddler" and a "baby".

That did not stop the 21-year-old from taking their conversation into sexually explicit territory, with them exchanging nude photographs with each other and making arrangements to meet at Gardens by the Bay for sex.

In court on Thursday (Dec 21), Tieng, a Cambodian, was handed eight weeks' jail after pleading guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a minor below 16 years old.

The victim turned out to be 10 at the time and was studying in a primary school. She cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.

THE SEXUAL COMMUNICATION

On June 23 this year, the girl was on chat application Snapchat when she randomly added Tieng as a contact.

He began to chat with her, telling her that he was "Lionor (Benny)", a 21-year-old Cambodian-Singaporean who was a student and resided in the western part of Singapore.

She responded and lied to Tieng, telling him that she was 14 years old. After replying that she was "so young", he proceeded to ask if she could show him how she looked like.

She then sent a photograph of herself on Snapchat and he replied that she looked like she was nine. They then exchanged their Instagram user names and Tieng further commented that she looked like a baby.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Heershan Kaur said that despite this, Tieng continued to intentionally engage in sexual communication with the girl.

The two would exchange sexually explicit messages across three days about their private parts and wanting to perform sexual acts with one another when they met.

They also talked about meeting up at Gardens by the Bay in order for them to "have fun" and discussed if they should record themselves having sex. 

The conversation later evolved to include voice recordings as well as video footage of Tieng touching himself and mimicking a sexual act.

He would also refer to the girl as a "sex toy" and "slut", and also stated that he wanted to "rape" her.

On June 25, the two talked about how to meet each other without her parents finding out.

The court heard that the conversation later moved to a discussion about their hypothetical children. It made the girl "slightly uncomfortable" when Tieng suggested teaching their would-be children to "feel horny", court documents showed.

The next day, the two started to converse on WhatsApp, where the girl confessed that she lied about her age.

She had previously asked Tieng if he would have sex with her if she were 10 years younger, so he responded that he "knew" that she had lied about her age.

He then asked for her nude photos and videos, as well as images of her engaging in a sexual act. She obliged and sent the sexually explicit content of herself to Tieng.

In total, 10 photos and eight videos of the girl were sent to him, DPP Kaur said.

Two days later, the girl's father happened to see her phone and saw the conversations and photos that were exchanged. 

He confronted the girl who admitted that she was sexually communicating with Tieng, whom she had not met.

Her father then took a video of the content and took the girl to the police station to make a police report. Tieng was arrested on the morning of June 30.

'EXTREMELY PREDATORY'

Seeking a jail term of between eight and 10 weeks, DPP Kaur stated that strict deterrent sentences ought to be imposed given the grave harm that could result because of the sexual communication.

"The victim was especially vulnerable given her young age and the accused was extremely predatory with depraved sexual fantasies, including raping the victim, which was repeated multiple times from June 23 to 26," DPP Kaur argued.

She said that Tieng had also exploited the victim's vulnerability by goading her into providing sexually explicit photos and videos.

"When the victim admitted that she was only 10 years old, the accused persisted in the sexual communication with the victim, suggesting that he was undeterred by the young age of the victim," DPP Kaur added.

For intentionally engaging in sexual communication with a minor below 14 years of age, Tieng could have been jailed for up to three years or fined, or both.