THE High Court is deliberating over the appropriate punishment to be handed down to a pimp who had arranged for a teenage prostitute to have sex with a 55-year-old man.

This is the first case to come before the courts under a newly-enacted law to protect the young from sexual exploitation.

In August, China national Wang Minjiang was fined $8,000 by a district court for aiding Tan Chye Hin, 55, to obtain sexual services of a 17-year-old girl he had brought in from China.

The prosecution on Friday appealed to the High Court against the sentence, arguing that Wang, 36, should be jailed for between 12 and 18 months.

There are no sentencing precedents on this offence under the Penal Code as this is the first case to be prosecuted in the courts under a provision that came into effect in February, which makes it a crime to pay for sex with someone under the age of 18.

Justice Choo Han Teck said he will take some time to consider the arguments by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mark Tay and adjourned the case to next Friday.

Wang, who was fined a total of $25,000 on four charges, is currently serving a 25-week default jail term as he did not pay the fines.

The prosecution is not appealing against his three other charges: bringing the prostitute into Singapore, living off her earnings and running his sex business from a Geylang coffeeshop.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.