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Man, 24, jailed 10 months for having sex with underaged girl he met on dating platform TanTan

SINGAPORE — They met on a dating platform and became romantically and intimately involved with each other. But the girl in the relationship was not only much younger than the man, she was also underaged.

Zong Shouqiang, 24, pleaded guilty to a charge each of sexual communications and having sex with a minor below 16 years old.

Zong Shouqiang, 24, pleaded guilty to a charge each of sexual communications and having sex with a minor below 16 years old.

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  • Zong Shouqiang, 24, got to know his teenaged victim through the online dating application TanTan
  • Despite knowing that she was underaged, Zong proceeded to have sex with her
  • The girl's school principal later informed her mother that the teenager had been in contact with an older man 

 

SINGAPORE — They met on a dating platform and became romantically and intimately involved with each other. But the girl in the relationship was not only much younger than the man, she was also underaged. 

On Thursday (Nov 25), Zong Shouqiang, 24, pleaded guilty to a charge each of sexual communications and having sex with a minor below 16 years old.

Zong, a China national, was jailed for 10 months. The victim cannot be named to protect her identity.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Esther Wong said that the girl was 15 years and nine months old at the time of the offences.

The teenager had created an account with the dating application TanTan earlier this year, where she got to know several men, including Zong.

Zong began conversing with the girl through the mobile messaging platform WeChat on Jan 9. At some point, the girl sent Zong a photograph that depicted her performing a lewd act.

Not long after, they decided to have a video call with each other and Zong noticed that the teenager “looked young”. 

Zong was undeterred even then and the conversation took on a sexual overtone. They eventually arranged to have sex with each other on Jan 10.

The pair met in the morning for breakfast before Zong proceeded to buy condoms “in preparation for sexual intercourse”, DPP Wong said.

In the afternoon, Zong brought the teenager to an apartment that was owned by his previous landlord, to which Zong still had access, where they both engaged in sex acts.

Zong also showed her his work permit and noted that he was a lot older than she was. He, too, saw her identity card, which showed that she was indeed not yet 16, DPP Lim said.

Slightly over an hour later, Zong again asked the girl if she wanted sex. It was not stated by the prosecutor if the victim consented this time round.

DPP Lim said that they were interrupted by a message on the victim’s phone and Zong later accompanied the girl to the void deck of a housingblock where she lived.

After the encounter, the accused and the victim agreed to get into a romantic relationship with each other.

A police report was made by the girl’s mother on Jan 23 after she found out from her daughter’s school principal that the teenager had been in contact with an older man and could have been taken advantage of. 

In pleading for a lighter sentence, Zong said through a Chinese interpreter that he came from a poor family and that was why he was in Singapore for work.

“I am sincerely apologetic to the victim. I am pleading for leniency as I am the only male and only breadwinner in my family,” he said, adding that his father was in poor health. 

District Judge Lim Wen Juin said that while there was “no element of coercion”, it was, in any case, a “neutral factor” that does not affect the judgement or sentence.  

Anyone found guilty of sexual communication with minor below 16 years of age is liable to be punished with a jail term of up to two years, or a fine, or both.

As for sexual penetration of a minor below 16 years of age, the punishment is a jail term of up to 10 years, or a fine, or both.

Related topics

court crime underage sex

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