A technician, who is a father of nine children, was told off by a judge for having sex with a 13-year-old student that he befriended in an online chatroom.
In sentencing Razman Surya Rahmad, 39, yesterday to a year and three months' jail for having sex with a minor, District Judge Low Wee Ping said: "You should have known better. What if one of your children becomes a victim?"
Razman met the girl on a chat website on Dec 25, 2009 and exchanged telephone numbers with her. He lied to her, saying he was 28.
He asked her to meet him, with the intention of having sex with her. He also promised to pay her $50.
She met him at Eunos MRT station at night on the same day.
He then drove her to a nearby block of flats and they took the lift to a high floor.
When she asked for the payment, he said that he would give it to her later.
They then had unprotected sex at a staircase landing.
Razman then dropped her off at the same MRT station without handing over any money.
Some days later, he asked her again for sex but she turned him down.
Her mother found an SMS message in her mobile phone on Dec 29, and took her to the police.
Razman pleaded guilty to the offence last month.
Asking for a jail term of no less than 15 months, Deputy Public Prosecutor Michael Quilindo said that Razman had "painted himself as a family man with many children" but had used the victim to satisfy his sexual desires.
Razman, who did not have a lawyer, said that he found out in 2009 that his second wife was cheating on him and was "totally devastated", leading him to commit the offence.
He is now divorced from his wife but has custody of their seven children.
He has two other children from his first marriage.
Razman had been planning to marry again and his fiancee, who was in court, burst into tears when the sentence was passed.
He could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
