SINGAPORE, Oct 21 — A former Singapore army captain has been jailed for 17 months for sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy and filming their encounters for what he described as his “personal collection”.

Chaw Chia Jun, 41, was sentenced yesterday after pleading guilty to three charges involving sexual penetration of a minor and the production of child abuse material, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported.

The court heard that Chaw, who held the rank of captain in the Singapore Army at the time of the offences in 2024, was introduced to the teenager by his former partner, a cook serving in the Republic of Singapore Navy.

The former partner, Owen Toh Wei Song, 26, was himself sentenced to 12 months in prison last month over offences involving the same boy.

According to CNA, the teenager, then a Secondary 4 student, had been searching online for ways to make friends when he came across Toh’s profile on a forum for adult gay men in April 2024.

The two began communicating, and Toh subsequently introduced him to Chaw, falsely telling the boy that the army officer was 32.

The three later met at a multi-storey car park in Punggol, where sexual acts took place and Chaw made a video recording. He subsequently sent a copy to Toh.

Chaw continued meeting the teenager without Toh, including at a shopping mall on June 5, 2024, where they engaged in sexual acts inside an accessible toilet.

He recorded two videos during that encounter, one of which showed the boy’s face.

Chaw kept the recordings on his phone, telling investigators that he routinely filmed sexual encounters with others and retained the footage as part of his “personal collection”.

The abuse came to light after the teenager’s mother and sisters became concerned about changes in his behaviour and gifts he had been receiving from an older man.

When confronted, the boy disclosed what had happened. A police report was lodged on October 23, 2024.

During sentencing, prosecutors sought a jail term of between 17 and 21-and-a-half months, arguing that the law was intended to protect children under 16 from sexual exploitation.

Chaw’s lawyer, Mark Yeo, argued for a sentence of between 14 and 17 months, pointing to Toh’s greater involvement in arranging the initial encounter.

The defence also said Chaw had believed the teenager was older than 16, although he accepted that he should have taken steps to verify his age.

As the judge prepared to deliver his sentence, Chaw sought to raise the issue of the boy’s age again, claiming that the teenager had lied and used another person’s photograph in a Telegram conversation.

District Judge Kenneth Chin acknowledged the claim but noted that Chaw had failed to make further efforts to establish the boy’s age.

The judge stressed that the purpose of the law was to protect minors from exploitation, regardless of whether they had initiated or willingly participated in sexual activity.

“Absence of coercion is a neutral factor and is not a mitigating factor,” he said.

The judge also accepted that Toh bore slightly greater responsibility for the initial car park incident.

Chaw’s lawyer told the court that his client had served as a regular in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for about 20 years and had since taken up employment with a friend’s company in the food and beverage sector.

In response to CNA’s queries, Singapore’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that Chaw had been suspended from all duties following his arrest in 2024.

“He has since been released from regular service and is no longer with the SAF,” a ministry spokesperson said.

The ministry added that the armed forces held personnel to high standards of discipline and integrity and that those who committed offences would be dealt with under the law.