SINGAPORE, Dec 23 — A workplace safety and hygiene manager used fake online accounts impersonating a teenage girl to contact and sexually exploit minors, telling investigators he did so to hide his actions from his wife.

Chew Koh Leong, 45, pleaded guilty yesterday to two charges of obtaining sexual services from a person below 18 years old and another charge for attempting to get a child below 16 to perform an obscene or indecent act, The Straits Times reported

Chew created a Carousell account using a fake name and photo sometime in 2022. 

He admitted to using Carousell because he felt it would be easier to hide his intentions from his wife since the platform is meant for buying and selling goods. 

He also created fake Facebook accounts using a female teenager's name and photos to befriend girls online.

In March 2022, he contacted a seller who had posted a dress for sale at S$18 (RM56) on the platform. While impersonating a girl, he said he would send a “brother” — himself — to collect the dress and requested the seller's mobile number.

During conversations as the “brother,” Chew discovered that the seller was a secondary school student. 

He subsequently offered to pay her for sexual services, and she accepted some of his requests because she wanted the money. Chew admitted during investigations that he knew the girl was 13 years old at the time.

In October 2022, he met the girl at a shopping mall in northern Singapore, took her to his car in the multi-storey carpark, and drove to a secluded corner where he paid her S$150 to hug her and touch her over her underwear.

In May 2023, he again offered the girl S$150 and met her in the same carpark, but finding people around, they went to the nearest staircase where he hugged her from behind and touched her under her school uniform.

Chew will be sentenced on March 4, 2026. 

In Singapore, those found guilty of obtaining sexual services from a minor can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both. 

Offenders convicted of getting or attempting to get a child below 16 to carry out an obscene or indecent act can be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.