Man met boy on Grindr and gave him money after sexual acts

SINGAPORE – A street vendor who met a 12-year-old boy through a gay dating app told the boy he would teach him about sexual intercourse.

Ng Tuan Loo, 54, had sexual acts with the now 14-year-old boy during the three meetings in January 2020. He gave the boy money after each encounter and also paid his travel expenses.

Ng was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on Monday (21 February) after pleading guilty to three of nine counts of sexual penetration of a minor under the age of 16. The remaining six counts were taken into account in his sentencing.

To protect his identity, the boy, who describes himself as bisexual, cannot be named.

After being exposed to gay dating apps in June 2019, the boy downloaded two such apps, Grindr and Blued, with the intention of expanding his male circle of friends. To sign up for an account, he falsely stated his age as 18, but stated he was 13 on his Grindr profile.

In late 2019 and early 2020, Ng befriended the victim on Grindr despite knowing his age. They exchanged contact information and began communicating, with Ng asking the victim if she had ever had “fun sex with others.”

“The defendant told the victim that he would take care of the victim and give him money… he also told the victim that he would show the victim how to have sexual intercourse,” the indictment said in court.

Between January 16 and 28, 2020, the two met at Ng’s behest. On January 16, Ng offered to pay for the boy’s GrabCar ride to the older man’s house, where they had sex. He then gave the boy $70. Four days later, he asked the boy to come to his house after school. They had sex again, and Ng gave the boy $80 before leaving.

On January 28, the boy asked Ng to buy him a pack of cigarettes. Ng complied and asked the boy to pick up the cigarettes from his home that afternoon. They then carried out the same acts before the man gave the boy between $20 and $30 in cash and a red box with $20 in it.

On February 5, 2020, the victim’s stepfather checked the boy’s cellphone and discovered the chats. He confronted his stepson, who said he might be gay and confessed to having physical contact with three men.

The stepfather contacted Ng to reprimand him for the sexual encounters, but Ng claimed the boy asked him for money and how he could “settle” the matter.

After ending the phone call, the stepfather discussed the issue with the boy’s mother before filing a police report on February 20, 2020. In the report, he stated that the boy had been sexually abused by three men. Ng was identified and arrested the same day.

The other two men charged with sexual offences against the victim are Medrano Ermin Marasigan and Muhammad Azman Samsudin. Both previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years, eight months and two years, eight months and four weeks in prison respectively.

Teo Choo Kee, Ng’s lawyer, said his client did not mean to “lure” the victim. He just wanted to “be nice” as he was an elderly man with income while the other party was a young boy, Teo said.

For sexual penetration of a minor under 14, Ng could have received a prison sentence of up to 20 years, a fine or caning.

Stay up to date on the go: Join Yahoo Singapore’s Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore