Online vice ring: Former teacher latest to plead guilty

Chua Ren Cheng, a former teacher with River Valley High School, pleaded guilty on Monday to having commercial sex with a minor. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
Chua Ren Cheng, a former teacher with River Valley High School, pleaded guilty on Monday to having commercial sex with a minor. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

A teacher with River Valley High School fancied an escort advertised by an online vice ring in 2010 and arranged to have sex with her for $650. She turned out to be only 17 years old.

Chua Ren Cheng, 33, who is now unemployed, pleaded guilty on Monday to having commercial sex with a minor. He will be sentenced on Wednesday and could be jailed for up to seven years and fined for having paid sex with a person under 18 years of age.

Chua had come across the website of pimp Tang Boon Thiew in early late 2010, which featured the minor's picture and listed her age as 18. He then arranged to have sex with her at the Strand Hotel in Bencoolen Street on Dec 22, 2010. He paid her $650 for a 90-minute session. Chua, who is a bachelor, resigned from his teaching post in February 2012. He was charged two months later.

Altogether, 51 men have been charged with having commercial sex with the underage escort and 31 have been jailed, In January 2013, Tang, 40, was jailed for four years and 10 months and fined $90,000 for 20 vice-related charges.

khush@sph.com.sg

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