SINGAPORE — A man was sentenced to eight years and nine months in jail and six strokes of the cane for raping a 13-year-old girl he met on an online platform that anonymously pairs strangers for video or text chats.

According to The Straits Times  Kevin Tan Jia Hut, 28, pleaded guilty yesterday to one charge of rape. Three other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. He was 25 at the time of the offence.

According to the report, deputy public prosecutors Nicholas Wuan and Mavis Ng told the court that Tan and the victim became acquainted in May 2023 through the video-conferencing platform.

Their conversations quickly turned sexual in nature, and the two moved to Telegram, where they discussed meeting up for sex.

The Straits time reported that, in June 2023, the pair met at night at the staircase of a Housing Board block near the victim’s home, where she performed a sexual act on him before leaving, telling Tan she had sneaked out of her house.

The following month, while the two were exchanging messages on Telegram, the victim told Tan she wanted to have sex. With his mother and sister abroad at the time, Tan booked a taxi to bring her to his home.

After they had sex in his room, he arranged for another taxi to take her home.

Two days later, the victim’s mother lodged a police report after her daughter disclosed she had been raped. Court documents did not state what prompted the victim to come forward.

The victim subsequently told police she had engaged in sexual acts with multiple men. Through investigations, police identified Tan as one of those men and arrested him on Aug 10, 2023.

The prosecutors sought a jail term of nine to nine-and-a-half years and six strokes of the cane, emphasising that Tan’s actions were “no youthful folly.”

Under Singapore law, those who have sex with a girl below the age of 14, with or without her consent, can be convicted of rape and sentenced to up to 20 years’ jail, a fine, or caning.