Man jailed for luring underage girls to have sex with him

A sales engineer pretended to be a woman named "Vacinta Koh" on Facebook and befriended young girls online before asking them if they wanted to work as escorts.

If the girls were reluctant, "Vacinta" would coax them into taking the job, adding that there was a "stringent vetting process" as only clients who were "young, non-ugly and rich men", and who had undergone regular health checks, were allowed.

If the girls revealed that they were underage, they were told "age was not an issue". The offender, Angelo Anwyll Goh Hao-Yi, as "Vacinta", would then arrange for the girls to meet him for sex.

Goh's offences involved eight girls who were then between 13 and 17 years old. He had unprotected sexual intercourse with most of the teenagers. He even filmed some of his encounters with them.

The 34-year-old Singaporean was sentenced yesterday to four years and 10 months in jail.

He had pleaded guilty to nine counts of having sex with minors.

He also admitted to one count each of making obscene films and having commercial sex with the 17-year-old girl. Fifteen other charges, mainly for similar offences, were considered during sentencing. The offences were committed between September 2016 and April last year.

The court heard that some time before May 2016, Goh created a Facebook account under the name "Vacinta Koh", who was purportedly below 20 years old - a profile similar to his intended targets.

Goh then sent friend requests to girls he found on Facebook, using this fake account. When a girl accepted his request, he would send a message to her using Facebook Messenger and ask if she was interested in earning "quick money" of between $100 and $200 per hour.

When asked, Goh would inform her that she would need to work as a "part-time girlfriend" or "escort".

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei told District Judge Edgar Foo: "If the girl agreed, the accused would purport to arrange for them to meet a client who was, in truth, the accused."

Goh met the girls in person for sex and would take them to places where they would not be detected. These included his car and his residence in Poh Huat Terrace near Yio Chu Kang Road when no one else was at home.

He was arrested on April 2. He is now out on bail of $30,000 and will surrender himself at the State Courts on Nov 14 to begin serving his sentence.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 08, 2019, with the headline Man jailed for luring underage girls to have sex with him. Subscribe