A Singaporean man who posed as a teenager to groom an underage American girl online, coercing her into performing sexual acts during video calls and secretly recording the encounters, has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison and three strokes of the cane.
Sebastian Lye Chee Weng, 32, was sentenced on June 5 to five years and 11 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to multiple offences, including sexually exploiting a child and possessing child sexual abuse material. He was also ordered to serve an additional 66 days in jail for breaching the conditions of a remission order while under supervision following an earlier conviction.
According to reports, the case centred on a girl from the US state of Georgia whom Lye met online in October 2018. At the time, the victim was 12 years old while Lye was 24. To gain her trust, he falsely claimed that he was 17 years old.
Believing his deception, the girl entered into what she thought was a genuine romantic relationship with him. Over time, they communicated frequently through online platforms including Skype, Snapchat and social media messaging services.
Court documents revealed that despite being under investigation in Singapore for offences involving another child victim, Lye continued to communicate with the American girl and gradually exploited the relationship for sexual purposes.
On Nov 14, 2018, police raided Lye’s residence and arrested him in connection with a separate child exploitation investigation.
However, after being released, he resumed contact with the American girl and went on to sexually exploit her on at least 61 occasions between Nov 23, 2018 and Dec 1, 2019, the report added.
During numerous video calls, Lye instructed the girl to engage in sexually explicit acts, including undressing and performing other obscene acts in front of the camera.
Prosecutors said he secretly recorded the sessions and took screenshots without the victim’s knowledge. He also persuaded her to send intimate photographs and videos of herself.
The abuse continued even as legal proceedings relating to his earlier offences were ongoing.
In September 2020, Lye was convicted in the separate case and sentenced to more than eight months in prison. Contact between him and the American girl largely ceased around that period.
After his release on March 20, 2021, he was placed on a remission order requiring him to remain offence-free until June 13, 2021. Instead, prosecutors said he resumed contact with the victim within weeks of his release.
In April 2021, when the girl was 14 years old, Lye conducted another video call and requested that she perform a sexual act. He later took screenshots of the interaction.
The victim eventually sought to end the relationship, but Lye reacted by threatening to expose the intimate recordings he had accumulated over the years.
On May 13, 2021, he sent messages warning that he would distribute the recordings to people she knew if she stopped communicating with him. The victim responded by asking him to leave her alone.
The following day, Lye carried out part of his threat by sending several sexually explicit photographs of the girl to another person online.
Traumatised by the situation, the victim informed her parents. Her father subsequently reported the matter to authorities in the United States, who alerted the Singapore Police Force.
Singapore investigators received the report in November 2021 and launched further investigations. On April 12, 2022, officers raided Lye’s home and seized electronic devices, including his mobile phone, laptop and storage drives.
A forensic examination uncovered 12,755 videos and images containing child sexual abuse material.
Lye was eventually charged with 16 offences, including sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child sexual abuse material. He pleaded guilty to five charges, while the remaining charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
During mitigation, defence lawyer Nelson Chee told the court that his client suffered from depressive symptoms and argued that there was a contributory link between his mental condition and his offending behaviour.
The court ultimately imposed a sentence of five years and 11 months’ imprisonment, three strokes of the cane and an additional 66 days in prison for breaching the remission order.
Lye’s bail was set at S$20,000, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on June 19.
Image via ST
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