Director at firm jailed after giving teenage boy $200 in exchange for sex
Chen Yiyuan, who admitted that he knew the boy was born in 2005, was sentenced to six weeks’ jail. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent
UPDATED
1 HOUR AGO
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SINGAPORE – In exchange for sex, a director at an educational support services firm offered cash to a 17-year-old boy who was initially hesitant to accept the offer.
But Chen Yiyuan from Beacon International Management Group continued to pester the teenager even though the latter told him that he was not homosexual and that such sexual activities did not appeal to him.
Chen finally managed to convince the boy to come to his home on March 12, 2022. He gave the teenager $200 after performing oral sex on him.
On Tuesday, Chen, 32, who admitted that he knew the boy was born in 2005, was sentenced to six weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of involving in commercial sex with a minor below 18 years old.
The Singaporean met the boy at a Chinese New Year event in 2018 and contacted the latter via WhatsApp.
The pair exchanged Instagram contacts and would make occasional comments on each other’s posts on the platform. They went fishing in a park in early 2022.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En said: “The accused admitted that after this outing, he started feeling emotionally attracted towards the victim as he felt that the victim ‘gave off a chill vibe’ which made the accused feel peaceful and comfortable when the victim was beside him.
“The accused then suggested a second outing with the victim, which took place a few days later.”
According to Chen, he started having “good feelings” about the teenager after these two meetings.
He contacted the teenager via messaging platform Telegram in the wee hours of March 8, 2022.
During this conversation, Chen asked the boy whether he was open to experiment sexually with him. Chen also offered cash for such an encounter.
The pair exchanged messages with each other from 12.12am to 12.44am, during which the teenager said that he was not homosexual.
Among other things, Chen replied that he was heterosexual and was just “curious”. He also asked the boy what his limit was.
When the boy continued to hesitate, Chen reassured him by saying: “I pleasure (you) a bit will do... I don’t want you to touch me... that is why I am sure I will not (go) overboard... but I pay (you)... like 10 (minutes) or so can already.”
The conversation ended with an understanding that the boy let Chen know whether the latter could perform sexual acts on him.
In the following days, Chen continued to ask the teenager for his decision.
At around 2am on March 12, 2022, the boy finally agreed to meet Chen who drove his car to pick him up. They reached Chen’s Yishun home at around 3.40am.
Chen performed oral sex on the boy and gave him $200.
The victim who alerted the police later that day told investigators that the incident made him feel “filthy”.
On Tuesday, defence lawyer Tanaya Kinjavdekar from Trident Law Corporation told the court that Chen is genuinely remorseful. She said he has a low risk of reoffending.
For having commercial sex with a minor below 18 years old, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.
