Man admits to paying girl, 15, to perform sexual acts
Under the guise of offering her a job, Iqmal Haziq Othman asked to pay to see the 15-year-old girl in the nude and to have sex with him.
They did not have sex but Iqmal, 20, later committed indecent acts with her at his home.
A month later, he again contacted the girl for sex, this time posing as someone else, but she refused his requests and reported him to the police.
Yesterday, Iqmal pleaded guilty to three offences under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA).
A fourth CYPA offence and one other charge under the Protection from Harassment Act were taken into consideration.
District Judge Seah Chi-Ling called for both probation and reformative training suitability reports in light of Iqmal's youth and this being his first offence.
The girl, who cannot be named due to a gag order protecting her identity, made a post on online marketplace Carousell looking for a part-time job in November last year.
Iqmal contacted the girl to procure sex from her, initially saying he had an administrative job for her.
He then told her he would pay her $100 if she showed him her naked body and $800 to have sex with him.
The girl only agreed to the first offer and did not agree to having sex.
Iqmal was aware she was 15, Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew told the court.
On the afternoon of Nov 16, 2018, the girl went to Iqmal's home after he helped to book a private-hire ride for her.
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He took her into his bedroom and instructed her to sit on the bed and to undress herself.
She complied and Iqmal undressed as well.
He then touched the girl and told her to perform an indecent act, offering to pay her an extra $100 to do so.
He also offered her an extra $50 for him to touch her private parts.
She agreed and went home after he had paid her.
She did not know Iqmal had secretly filmed these acts with his mobile phone.
On Dec 12, 2018, Iqmal contacted the girl again, this time on Instagram.
Pretending to be someone else, he told her he had seen a sexual video of her online on the pretext of trying to help her.
He claimed he bought the video for $100 and the person who had the video wanted to have sex with her before he would delete it.
When the girl refused, Iqmal asked for oral sex and then asked her to show her naked body to him over live video chat. She declined and lodged a police report on her family's advice.
In mitigation, Iqmal's lawyer John Koh said his client understands the gravity of the offences and urged the court to give him a chance to rehabilitate himself.
Now in remand, Iqmal will return to court next Tuesday.
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