Father of 3 jailed for sex with underage girl

SINGAPORE: A man nabbed in a high—profile online vice ring crackdown last year has been sentenced to eight weeks’ jail.

Kenny Sim Choon Wee, 39, admitted to having paid sex with a 17—year—old teenager in October 2010 at Hotel 81 in Bencoolen Street.

He was one of 50 men implicated in the online vice ring case.

In his mitigation, his lawyer said the girl, who cannot be named, had deceived the men.

Mr Anand Nalachandran pointed out that Sim was genuinely mistaken and did not seek the services of an underage prostitute.

He added that Sim, who has three children, suffered from cerebral palsy and now has limb spasticity.

Mr Anand urged the court to give a substantial fine instead of a jail term.

But the prosecution argued that the onus was on Sim to verify the age of the girl and that he failed to do so.

It added that the law expected Sim to have exercised due diligence, but he allowed himself to be misled by the representation of the minor on the website.

It asked for a jail term of at least 12 weeks.

But the judge took into account Sim’s medical condition and sentenced him to eight weeks’ jail instead.

It’s understood that Sim is appealing against the sentence.

— CNA/ck