SINGAPORE, Sept 30 — A 36-year-old former restaurant manager was sentenced to two years and eight months’ jail on Wednesday (Sept 29) for sexual acts with an underaged boy he had met on a mobile dating application.
Medrano Ermin Marasigan’s offences came to light when the boy’s stepfather checked his mobile phone.
Medrano, who is a Filipino working in Singapore, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor under 14.
Four other similar charges, including sexual exploitation of a child, were taken into consideration for sentencing.
His sentence was backdated to Feb 22 last year when he was first remanded.
The boy, then aged 12 and in Secondary 1, cannot be named due to a court order to protect his identity.
The court heard that the student started using Grindr and Blued, which are dating apps popular among gay men, around June 2019 with the intention of expanding his circle of male friends.
Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) G Kannan, Jasmin Kaur and Colin Ng told the court that he falsely declared that he was 18 years old in order to register for accounts but stated that he was 13 years old on his Grindr profile.
Around December 2019, Medrano began chatting with the boy on Blued. When Medrano asked for his age, the boy responded that he was 13 to 14 years old and was underage.
Medrano nonetheless continued to communicate with the boy and asked for his photograph.
They then exchanged contact details and continued chatting on WhatsApp. The boy also sent the man two photos of his genitals.
Between Dec 13, 2019 and Jan 3 last year, the pair met at Medrano’s home on three separate occasions and engaged in sexual activities.
On two of these occasions, the boy was reluctant to meet, saying he had other appointments. Medrano persuaded the boy and he relented eventually.
On Feb 5 last year, the boy’s stepfather checked his mobile phone and discovered that he was engaging in “gay talk” with men. He confronted his stepson who said that he might be gay and admitted to having “physical contact” with three men.
The stepfather then made a police report about two weeks later.
Medrano was arrested on the same day when the police had established his identity.
DPPs Kannan, Kaur and Ng sought the sentence imposed, noting that the Penal Code makes it plain that sexual penetration of a minor is an offence regardless of the victim’s consent.
They argued that Medrano had also emotionally manipulated the boy and exploited him for his own sexual gratification.
The prosecutors added: “Any consent ostensibly given by the 12-year-old victim in this case cannot be endorsed as positive consent because the victim lacked the requisite maturity.
“As an adult who was 23 years older than the victim at the material time, the accused ought to have immediately disengaged from any further contact or communication with the victim upon learning his age. However, he failed to do so and persisted in engaging in underaged sexual activities with the victim.”
Those convicted of sexual penetration of a minor can be jailed for up to 20 years, and fined or caned. — TODAY
