Man preyed on girl, 13, after luring with cosplay shoot

After meeting a 13-year-old girl at a cosplay event, a man talked her into agreeing to do a photo shoot with him.

During the "shoot", he blindfolded and handcuffed her hands behind her back before touching her inappropriately.

Yesterday, Alaric Lim Qixian, 20, pleaded guilty to one charge of committing an indecent act with a child and two counts of insult of modesty for upskirt offences against other women.

Lim, who was a full-time national serviceman with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, met the victim at a cosplay event in March last year.

They began chatting over Instagram, during which Lim told the girl he was a photographer.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Phang told the court yesterday: "He offered to conduct a private photo shoot for her, sending her a few examples of what he called "risky" pictures - namely, photographs of women wearing minimal clothing."

She turned down his offer but said she would be interested in a private photo shoot involving "bondages (sic) and stuff".

Lim then offered to let her try a BDSM (bondage, domination, submission, and sado-masochism) photoshoot.

He proposed that he could tie a rope harness on the victim and offered to provide various props such as a bikini, handcuffs, leg cuffs and a collar.

He offered to give the girl a test run after school and suggested they do it in a handicapped toilet in a secluded part of a mall.

Lim and the girl also engaged in conversations of a sexual nature.

Around 5.30pm on May 22 last year, the girl, who was in her school attire, met Lim at Plaza Singapura and went to the handicapped toilet on the fourth storey, DPP Phang said.

After they spent about 15 minutes playing mobile phone game Mobile Legends, Lim produced a black rope and tied a harness around the girl.

He then blindfolded her and used a pair of black leather handcuffs to secure her hands behind her back.

He started touching her over her clothing before moving his hands under her shirt and bra to touch her breasts.

When she told him to stop, he removed his hand but started touching her elsewhere. He also used his tongue to lick different parts of her body.

This continued for about 15 minutes, during which the victim felt shocked and disgusted by Lim's actions, the court heard.

But she did not shout for help out of fear that he might harm her.

After Lim released the girl, he asked her if she was okay. She simply nodded and left to take a bus home, DPP Phang said, adding that Lim knew she was a child.

Once she got home, she took a shower immediately as she felt disgusted by what Lim had done to her.

She then told her mother what had happened, and they made a police report the next day.

Lim was arrested the next day and three upskirt videos were found on his phone.

He admitted to taking videos of unsuspecting women at an MRT station in 2018.

Lim was diagnosed with adjustment disorder after he was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health in June last year.

In mitigation, Lim's lawyer Richard Lim said the girl had shown a keen interest in his client's photos, which had elements of BDSM.

He said Lim did not view the girl's request to take part in a BDSM photoshoot as sexual in nature as it was common in cosplay.

"He was not aroused by this act of cosplay activity. His intentions were not to take advantage of the victim but purely playing out what the parties intended," Mr Lim added.

He said Lim has since learnt that there is a distinction between cosplay and reality.

As for the upskirt offences, the lawyer said his client had done so impulsively, as he found the victims attractive.

District Judge Sharmila Sripathy noted an escalation of Lim's sexual offences, and called for reports on probation suitability and reformative training suitability.

The case has been adjourned to November.