This time, Aslam used his mobile phone to film the act. The boy did not know he was caught on video. In his mitigation, Aslam's lawyer Nichol Yeo said that his client had believed that the victim was at least 17 years old.
Mr Yeo added that the app has age verification safeguards in place, where users have to verify and confirm they are above 18 when registering for an account. The victim had indicated on his profile in the app that he was 18. He said Aslam also tried to verify the victim's age by asking him how old he was, and the victim replied that he was 17. 'This was the second time the victim misrepresented his age and my client had no reason to suspect he was under 16 or even under 14,' said Mr Yeo, asking the court for a sentence of 12 months' jail for his client. Mr Yeo also told the court that the victim had initiated the second meeting and had told Aslam that he needed money again and gave him a discount of $30 from the initial price. However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gabriel Lim asked for a sentence of 18 months as a general deterrence against such crimes involving children who were vulnerable to sexual exploitation.įor engaging in a sexual act with a person under the age of 14, Aslam could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
