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Jail for man who posed as woman to sexually exploit girls by offering them fake modelling jobs

SINGAPORE — When aged 21, he sexually exploited young girls he met on Instagram by posing as a woman who worked for an online clothing brand, in order to entice his victims with modelling “jobs”.

The court heard that Chua Wen Bin began posing as a female known as Jolin on Instagram in September 2019, to trick teenage girls into meeting him for modelling jobs.
The court heard that Chua Wen Bin began posing as a female known as Jolin on Instagram in September 2019, to trick teenage girls into meeting him for modelling jobs.
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  • When he was 21, Chua Wen Bin pretended to be a woman working for an online clothing brand 
  • He got teenage girls to agree to modelling jobs, then sexually exploited them while taking their measurements
  • He also molested a 15-year-old girl while driving her home from school

SINGAPORE — When aged 21, he sexually exploited young girls he met on Instagram by posing as a woman who worked for an online clothing brand, in order to entice his victims with modelling “jobs”.

Chua Wen Bin, who then pretended to be the woman’s brother, took the girls to his bedroom and filmed them naked under the guise of taking their body measurements.

He also lied to a 15-year-old girl that he was a polytechnic student two years older than her. Shortly after meeting her, he molested her in his girlfriend’s father’s car after picking her up from school.

For his actions from 2019 to 2020, he was jailed for eight months on Wednesday (March 16).

The Singaporean, now aged 23, pleaded guilty to one charge each of outrage of modesty, insulting a woman’s modesty and making an obscene film. Five other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

His victims cannot be named due to a court order to protect their identities.

ASKED IF SHE WAS A VIRGIN 

The court heard that Chua began posing as a female known as Jolin on Instagram in September 2019. 

On Sept 1, 2019, he sent a message to an 18-year-old girl and pretended that he was working for the clothing brand Zaful.

He said that he was looking for a model to showcase clothing and asked if she was interested, offering her S$80 for each piece she modelled. He also told her that she could keep the clothes.

She agreed and they continued discussing the "job" over WhatsApp.

Later that day, Chua said that he needed to meet her in person to take her measurements. They arranged to meet at Kangkar LRT Station in Sengkang on Sept 4.

That morning, Chua — still pretending to be Jolin — told her that he was stuck in a meeting and that Jolin's younger brother, Jeremy, would be meeting her instead.

Chua, then posing as Jeremy, met the victim that morning and took her to his bedroom while no one else was home.

He told the girl, who was clad in her school uniform, to undress. When she complied, he took her measurements and brushed across her abdomen area while measuring her waist.

The entire process took about 20 minutes. Afterwards, he asked if she had a boyfriend, whether she was a virgin and whether she wanted to “do something”, which they both understood to mean sexual intercourse.

She turned him down, got dressed and left.

Later that same day, he took a 17-year-old girl home with the same modus operandi. This time, he placed his mobile phone on a chair in his bedroom to film her nude.

LIED THAT HE WAS A POLYTECHNIC STUDENT

In May 2020, he began chatting with at 15-year-old girl on Instagram. He introduced himself as Jeremy, a 17-year-old polytechnic student. 

The following evening, she agreed to his suggestion for him to pick her up from school the next day. This was during the circuit breaker period when movements and activities were restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She grew insecure and tried to cancel their meeting, but he said that he had already arrived at her school area.

She went to meet him and got into the front passenger seat of his car, which belonged to his girlfriend’s father. While he was driving them home, she felt uncomfortable throughout the ride because he had asked her if she was a virgin. 

He then stopped the car and asked her to take off her mask so that he could see her face.

When she declined, he tried to remove the mask himself but she slapped him away. He then commented that her hand was smooth and stroked it.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Keith Jieren Thirumaran told the court: “At this juncture, (the victim) called the accused 'gay'.”

She then tried to leave but he pulled her arm, causing her to fall back onto the passenger seat. He then groped her chest over her school pinafore.

The victim grew angry and he began apologising, asking her not to report him to the police. She went home and made a police report the next day.

DPP Thirumaran sought nine to 10 months’ jail and one stroke of the cane, but Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun agreed with Chua’s lawyers that caning should not be imposed.

Mr James Ow Yong had argued that Chua’s molestation was “fleeting in nature” and that he had touched the victim above her clothing.

The defence counsel, who asked for six months’ jail, said in mitigation: “He started on a course of conversational topics that perhaps he thought was playful, and his conduct thereafter was consistent with this position.

“The victim called the accused 'gay'… In the context of banter, this would’ve been taken by the accused as teasing. It was in response to that name-calling that he pulled the victim on the right arm.”

Mr Ow Yong said that Chua had not tried to restrain the victim, and he had quickly removed his hand and apologised.

Anyone convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or be punished with any combination of the three.

For insulting a woman’s modesty, Chua could have been jailed for up to a year or fined, or both. And for making an obscene film, he could have been jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$40,000, or both.

Related topics

court crime insult of modesty molest molestation

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