Married man paid underage girl he met on dating site for sex, gets 10 months’ jail

SINGAPORE — A 47-year-old man was jailed 10 months on Thursday (Feb 10) for engaging in sex acts with a secondary school student he had met on dating website Sugarbook.

Koo Yong Bian, who was married at the time, pleaded guilty to one count of having commercial sex with a minor under 18.

The Singaporean man became acquainted with the victim, then aged 15, on Sugarbook sometime in December 2020. She cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.

The court heard that the man and the student continued contacting each other over messaging platform Telegram because Koo wanted to keep the chats a secret from his wife.

After communicating for several days, he offered the girl about S$300 for sexual services lasting three hours. She accepted and he then booked a room at Hotel Boss, located along Jalan Sultan, for them on Dec 9, 2020.

That afternoon, he met her at the hotel lobby and took her up to the room. He paid the girl the agreed sum and left after the session.

The court further heard that he did not check her age against any documents before this.

He was arrested on April 14 last year following information received by the authorities. Court documents did not provide more details on this.

In mitigation, Koo, who was represented by lawyer Deepansh Sharma, told the court that he has a long history of community service and that being away from his wife for an extended period of time would have a detrimental impact on her physical and mental health.

Koo also said that she has obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Those convicted of having commercial sex with a minor can be jailed for up to seven years or fined, or punished with both.

Sugarbook bills itself as a site "where romance meets finance" and aims to link up older men with younger women, with the men expected to provide financial support for their companions. It was founded by a Malaysian man.