Friday, April 29, 2011

Teenager gang-raped after meeting Facebook pal

KUALA LUMPUR - A 14-YEAR-OLD girl who met a friend she knew through Facebook ended up being gang-raped by nine people.

Malaysian daily Tamil Nesan reported that the teenager, who lives in a flat in Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur, slipped out to see the friend without her parents' knowledge last Saturday.

After they met up, they decided to go to someone's house in Cheras with another guy who drove them there.

Three men were waiting for them at the house. One of them hugged and kissed the girl as she entered the house but she pushed him away. However, he forced himself on her and raped her.

He then called four other friends and all of them took turns to rape the girl throughout the day.

Subsequently, they took her for dinner at a restaurant. The girl took the chance to escape. So far, police have rounded up eight suspects.

Source: ST Online/THE STAR/ANN

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Convicted of sexually abusing step-daughter

A SALESMAN was convicted on Wednesday on one count of sexually abusing his eight-year-old step-daughter and two counts of forcing her to perform oral sex on him in 2009.

The 30-year-old had testified that the girl was prone to telling lies, but District Judge Toh Yung Cheong found her to be an 'unusually convincing witness' because of the consistency of the evidence and demeanour.

The judge also said that the defence had failed to raise any reasonable doubt and that the credibility of the accused person had been impeached by the contradictions between his statements to the police and the testimony he delivered in court.

The man will be sentenced on Friday. He could be jailed up to 10 years and fined up to $10,000 on each of the three charges he was convicted of. Sixteen similar charges have been stood down.

The court heard that the offences were committed between Jan 27 and Oct 2 in 2009. The girl cannot be identified to protect her identity.

During the 10-day trial, the court heard that the girl, then in primary school, told her grandmother about the abuses in Sept 27, 2009. Three days later, the grandmother told the girl's mother.

The mother wanted to sure before going to the authorities but in the meantime, the girl confided in her school counsellor on Oct 2, 2009. Police were called in.

Source: ST Online

Man cannot cope with wife's sex demands

man ran into a police station in Taiwan holding his pants in his hands.

Wearing only a shirt and underwear, he begged the cops for help. Minutes later, his wife entered the police station in a sexy bra and red panties.

The wife told Kaohsiung police she suspected that her husband was having an affair, but had no evidence.

Then, she put to practice her friend's suggestion to have sex with her husband everyday so that he would have no energy for other women.

Recently, she asked for a second round after having sex with her husband, but he refused.

She then "played" with his genitals and performed oral sex on him for over an hour.

The man, who was worn out by then, grabbed his pants and ran to the police station to seek help.

After some advice from the cops, the couple left and returned home.

Source: Apple Daily

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Employees of therapy-equipment firm claim raped

KUCHING: Six female employees of a therapy-equipment company have lodged a police report against their employer, claiming they were molested and raped.

They claimed the incident occurred on April 21 while attending a training at the company.

In the report, they alleged that the employer took out a sex toy during the training and started to molest them.

One of the victims claimed that the employer might have used black magic to prevent them from resisting.

They kept silent over the incident until they found out that a senior colleague aged 20 and her 18-year-old sister were also allegedly molested and raped by the employer.

The alleged rape happened a few days earlier after the colleague was asked to go to a hotel room for a business meeting.

Thinking that this would be a good career opportunity, she brought along her sister but both were allegedly raped.

After hearing of each other’s stories, the victims got together yesterday and lodged the report at the Simpang Tiga police station. They believed that they were not the only victims.

The company near Matang was said to be well-established and had published recruitment ads for clerks in the papers.

Police have taken down their statements and are investigating.

No arrests had been made at press time.

Source: The Star Online

Monday, April 25, 2011

Supervised probation for 12th man who had sex with minor

A POLYTECHNIC student who had sex with a minor four years ago was placed on 15 months' supervised probation on Monday.

Jesper Lim Jun Hao, 20, was the 12th man to be brought to court for having sex with the girl, then 12, at her apartment in mid-2007.

A Community Court was told that the two came to know each other through a social networking internet website in June 2006. They did not interact with each other much then.

A year later, they got re-acquainted with each other online and started chatting.

After about a week of chatting, they met at an MRT station. Then they went to the victim's flat where they had sex. He was then 16.

The offence came to light after the girl was warded in hospital in July 2008 and found to be pregnant. She subsequently terminated her pregnancy and also informed police that she had engaged in sex with several male persons.

Source: ST Online

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Man killed for filming sex act

SANDAKAN - A VOYEUR who filmed his neighbour having sex with his wife was stabbed to death by the enraged neighbour.

The voyeur, identified as La Kampo, had been showing the video clip of the couple to friends and even to the neighbour's son. Police have arrested the 44-year-old neighbour.

Mr La Kampo's body was sent to the Duchess of Kent Hospital here for a post-mortem. It was learnt that at about 7.30pm on Tuesday, Mr La Kampo had gone to his neighbour's house in their village off Jalan Utara here.

He told the neighbour's 17-year-old son about the video recording without realising that the neighbour, who was at home, overheard the conversation. When the son ignored him, Mr La Kampo returned to his house about 20m away.

The neighbour was believed to have taken a knife and gone to Mr La Kampo's house where he allegedly stabbed him repeatedly in an apparent fit of rage. Mr La Kampo sustained multiple stab wounds and died on the spot.

The neighbour took the murder weapon and turned himself in to the police about an hour after the incident. Sandakan police chief Rowell Marong said both men were Indonesians and worked as labourers.

Source: ST Online/THE STAR/ANN

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Youth sentenced to jail, caning for raping step-sister

A YOUTH who was on home leave when he raped his 14-year-old step-sister was jailed for 10 years and ordered to be given 12 strokes of the cane on Wednesday.

As a result, the girl gave birth to a baby girl early last year. The child has since been fostered out.

The 18-year-old accused had earlier admitted to two charges of rape in February and March 2009, with another two taken into consideration during the sentencing. A Community Court had heard that the girl, now 16, did not consent to him having sex with her.

She had in fact called out to her half-brother to get the keys of the bedroom when the accused pulled her in and locked the door on the first occasion. He raped her the following month (March 2009) when he was again on home leave. He had been sent to the home for rioting.

The offences came to light when the girl told a school counsellor in October 2009, what the accused had done to her. In his oral decision, Community Court Judge Ng Peng Hong agreed with the prosecution that a deterrent sentence was called for, in view of the serious nature of the offences.

He said the victim was then a 14-year-old schoolgirl and vulnerable when she was first raped at her own home. 'It was aggravated by the fact that she became a mother to an unwanted baby because of the rape committed by the accused,' he said. The accused's sentence was backdated to Dec 4, 2009.

Source: ST Online

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Top Sendai sex service offers free frolic to rejuvenate hard-hit industry

In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, there have been no shortage of first-hand accounts that recall details of the tragedy.

For weekly tabloid Shukan Jitsuwa, that has meant focusing on tales from the commercial sex biz. This week (Apr. 28) it seeks out the manager of Tohoku’s largest deri heru operation (that is, a service that operates on an out-call basis), which has introduced a special campaign to inspire the struggling industry.

Once the quake struck, the Sendai branch of the Okusama Tetsudo 69 chain had a PC fly off a desk, books tumble from shelves, and fluorescent lights fall from the ceiling, reports the manager of the club, which specializes in delivering married ladies to hotel rooms.

(The club’s Web site indicates that it was forced to suspend regular business until April 2. It also shows that basic services start at 16,000 yen for 70 minutes.)
“Seven staff members went under desks,” the manager continues. “Needless to say, it was the first time to experience and earthquake of such a magnitude, and during that time I couldn’t think about anything else.”

The manager then evacuated to the nearest elementary school but became concerned about the ladies under his employ. Taking some risk, he went back to the office and attempted to reach all his girls through their mobile phones as land lines were out of order.

A lady who was with a customer at a hotel told him, while in tears, “there was such a shock and trembling that I am afraid to go outside.” In the end, it was the customer who set her at ease by saying that everything would be fine.

There were also ladies who were on their way to see clients, some of whom were at Sendai Station inside a department store. It was a frightful scene, the manager was told, as the lights were out and nobody could go outside. One woman was trapped in an elevator. She kept mailing the manager, and he replied by saying, “stay calm, an engineer will reach you momentarily.”

“Most of our ladies are typical housewives so they were concerned about their kids waiting at home,” he continues. “But subway and JR lines were suspended so some clients were kind enough to escort our ladies to their residences.”

Shukan Jitsuwa says that 140 ladies are employed at Sendai’s Okusama Tetsudo 69 and that it took the manager four to five days to reach them all. While some lost their homes and are in evacuation centers, they all survived. With some now starting to return back to work, the manager has been going around to supermarkets to secure food for them.

He has recently sensed a rejuvenation within the town, a contrast to the conservative behavior that was favored immediately following March 11. To do its part, the Sendai branch is offering various no-charge specials — including an extension of services for 10 minutes and the use of remote-controlled vibrators — between April 15 and 20 under the campaign: “Tohoku Reconstruction Assistance.”

“Sex business operators also want to make a serious push in this way,” the manager says. (K.N.)

Source: Tokyo reporter

Besut boot camp for 66 sissies

KUALA TERENGGANU: The state Education Department has sent 66 schoolboys with effeminate tendencies to a camp aimed at helping them behave in a proper manner.

"The four-day camp in Besut, the first-ever to be held here, started yesterday. It is to help address the problem afflicting secondary schoolboys.

"They were listed by their schools who were instructed last year to identify students who displayed feminine qualities," said department director Razali Daud.


He said the remedial effort was prompted by the rising number of effeminate schoolboys in the state.

"The severity of the symptoms vary, but the 66 schoolboys were showing behaviours that is not usually displayed by a normal male of their age."

Razali said the link between effeminate behaviour among male students and transsexuality should be a matter of concern that should not be ignored.


"As educators, we have to do something about it before the young ones misunderstand people and reach the point of no return.

"We are not intervening with the process of nature as we are merely trying to guide these students to a proper path in life."

The students will be attending physical education and religious classes conducted by motivational speakers.


"The students must understand that there are choices in life and we want them to know all the options available to them.

"We understand that some people end up as mak nyah (transvestite) or a homosexual, but we will do our best to limit the number."

Razali said parents and teachers should observe the slightest effeminate tendency in their male children from an early age.

"If left unchecked, it could become a problem later in life for them, their families and society."

Source: NST Online

Monday, April 18, 2011

Boyfriend, 5 others rape 14-year-old in M'sia

Dungun (The Star/ANN) - A harmless date at a public park here turned into a horrifying outing for a 14-year-old girl who ended up being gang-raped in an abandoned house in Malaysia.

The victim, who is a school dropout, had gone to the park at 10pm on Wednesday to meet her 18-year-old boyfriend whom she had known for a couple of months.

However, when it was time to go home, the boyfriend asked his friend to send the girl home, saying he had errands to run.

Instead of sending her to her house in Jalan Bunga Raya, the friend took her to an abandoned house in Batu Tujuh, where six men, including the boyfriend, were waiting at about 1am.

Forcing her into the house, the men stripped her before parading her in the nude.

They then took turns to rape her for several hours before leaving her in the house.

The victim sought help from a group of university students, who sent her to the Dungun police station to lodge a report.

She was later sent to Dungun Hospital for treatment and a check-up.

Dungun deputy OCPD Deputy Supt Ismail Abdullah said police had detained five suspects aged between 16 and 23.

"We are checking whether they were under the influence of drugs. They have been remanded until April 20 to facilitate investigations," he said, adding that police were looking for two other suspects, both aged 19.


Source: Star/ANN

Friday, April 15, 2011

Jailed for sex with underage girl

A MAN who had sex with his supervisor's teenage daughter was jailed for 12 months on Friday.

The 25-year-old surveyor, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, admitted to having sex with the 14-year-old girl at a multi-storey carpark in Jurong West, and consensual oral sex with her at another carpark in 2008.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Edmund Lam told the court that the accused - who then had a girlfriend - committed the offences while tasked by his supervisor's boyfriend to fetch the victim and her siblings from school.

One afternoon in mid-2008, he fetched only the victim from school and drove the company vehicle to the multi-storey carpark and had sex with her.

On another occasion in the same year, he drove her to a multi-storey carpark in Marsiling, where she performed oral sex on him. Subsequently, he stopped fetching her from school, and they drifted apart.

She became upset and guilty about what transpired between them and told her mother. The accused could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each charge.

Source: ST Online

Class V student raped, killed in Andhra Pradesh

MACHILIPATNAM: A class V student was allegedly raped and murdered on the outskirts of Machilipatnam town late on Tuesday night. The incident came to light on Wednesday after the lone suspect confessed to his crime.

Town CI Subramanyam said the 12-year-old girl was strangled with her chunni by the accused, Bharanam Panduranga Rao, after forcing himself on the hapless girl near a oil palm plantation. "He lured the girl by offering her fruits. He took her to a secluded placed and raped her. Fearing that she would inform her parents, he tied the chunni around her neck and pulled it tight. The girl was choked to death," a police official said.

The girl and the accused hail from Navin Mittal colony in the town. The girl went to the outskirts along with a herd of goats when Rao committed the crime. Sources said he quietly left the place along with the goat brought by the girl. After searching for his daughter till late in the night, father Kumar approached the police and lodged a complaint. Parents of the girl are vendors of steel utensils in the town.

Following inputs provided by the parents and locals, cops picked up Rao in the early hours and enquired about the girl's whereabouts. Initially, he feigned ignorance. But after six hours of interrogation, he confessed to his crime. The girl's body was recovered from the bushed and sent for an autopsy.

Source: Times of India

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Remand for kidnap-rape suspect

Police obtained a seven-day remand order for a suspect in the kidnapping of two girls over the weekend.

The self-employed man is alleged to have also raped one of them.

The order was obtained from Alor Setar Magistrate Court Registrar Datin Chan Lee Fong yesterday.

The case received widespread publicity here over the dramatic events that led to the girls' rescue.

The victims, aged 14 and 12, were rescued by their father who had gone on a 50km frantic search for them on Sunday.

The 39-year-old had scoured the districts of Pendang, Yan, Kota Setar and Kuala Kedah in search of his daughters.

The girls were believed to have been kidnapped at 5.30pm on Saturday near a sundry shop not far from their home in Kampung Perepat, Kota Sarang Semut.

The kidnapper bundled the girls into his car as they were walking to the shop before taking them on a joy ride to Yan and Pendang districts. He is believed to have raped the older girl in Tokai, Pendang.

Kota Setar OCPD Asst Comm Adzaman Mohd Jan said the suspect was under remand to facilitate investigation.

“He is being investigated under Sections 363 and 376 of the Penal Code for kidnapping and rape, respectively.”

Source: The Star

Six-year-old boys sexually assault 5 girls of same age

London, April 11 (IANS) Two six-year-old British boys have been charged with sexually assaulting five schoolgirls of the same age.

Police confirmed they were 'made aware of an alleged incident but are not investigating' because the boys were under 10, the age of criminal responsibility in Britain, according to The Sun.

The boys were still at the school in Lancashire but were chaperoned throughout the day.

Worried parents have threatened to remove their children from the school.

A mother of a student at the unnamed school said: 'These boys are probably too young to realise what they have done. But you don't expect this. It's a horrible thing to happen. One girl's behaviour apparently changed markedly after what happened.'

'We now know that at least five girls were involved and three have left,' another said.

Source: Yahoo News

Wife and Daughter of Politician Jailed for Sexual Grooming

The middle aged wife of a Arizona politician has been jailed for 13 years for a three year affair with a teenage boy.

Susan Brock began grooming the boy with presents such as an Xbox when he was just 11 years old.

The mother-of-three began having sex with the teen when he was 13 years old and their affair continued until he was 17 years as she attempted to mould him into her ‘toyboy’ lover.

At the same time as she was sleeping with the teenager, her 18 year old daughter was also having sex with the boy.

Rachel Brock will go on trial later this year but is likely to get a lesser sentence on her under age sex charges.

The mother-daughter sex triangle was revealed as Brock, 49, was jailed after pleading guilty to three counts of attempted sexual conduct.

Brock wept in court as she apologised for her behaviour which is said to have left her victim, now aged 17, suffering from 'inescapable depression'.

Her husband Fulton, who filed for divorce after his wife’s arrest on sex charges, is a county supervisor iin Arizona.

Prosecutors had said church-going Brock was a predatory mum who had picked out the son of a family friend to satisfy her sexual desires.

She began molesting the boy when he was 14 years old with encounters often taking place in her Lexus car and at her home in Chandler, Arizona.

The dark haired homemaker also helped the teen have sex with his girlfriend and even supplied them with a 'sex kit' including condoms.

Brock’s three year affair came to light after her teen lover’s girlfriend told his parents.

Brock had been charged with 15 counts of abusing the teen, but under a plea deal reached in January pleaded guilty to three lesser charges.

Brock made a tearful plea for forgiveness.

"I hope to pray every day my heart will be healed. I will pray that somehow this could all be made right."

"My heart is swollen with sorrow and regret. I would like to publicly apologise to the victim and his family."

"I’ve offended everyone I love, including my family and my friends. I’ve hurt the victim and his family the most. I know that I need to take responsibility for my actions… Only God knows the intent in my heart. From this point forward I intend to do only good… even if it goes into the eternities."

In a statement to the court, the teen said he had no idea what lay ahead for him when he met Brock.

"I was at the time a typical over-achieving kid," he told the court. "Life seemed rather easy and stable. I quickly grew to trust her. I did not know that she was slowly and methodically setting a trap for me."

"I hope to never see, feel or think of her again. I have been thrown into an inescapable depression."

His father added: "She destroyed my son’s innocence."

Brock was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and ordered to pay her victim and his family $1m (RM3.022 million) in restitution.

Brocks’ daughter Rachel will go on trial later this year charged with eight counts of abusing the boy.

Her affair with him began when he was 13 years old and continued while he was also being molested by her mum.

Source: Daily Mail

Monday, April 11, 2011

Indonesian lawmaker quits parliament over porn

JAKARTA - AN INDONESIAN lawmaker from a conservative Islamic party resigned on Monday after he was photographed looking at pornography on his tablet computer in parliament.

Despite an outcry against him on Twitter, Mr Arifinto insisted that nobody had pressured him to resign and that he was stepping down from the House of Representatives 'for the sake of my and my party's honour'.

'I will also improve myself by... reciting the Quran, seeking advice from clergy, giving alms to the poor and doing other good things to earn glory in this life and thereafter,' he said at a televised news conference.

Mr Arifinto, who represents the conservative Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), was caught on camera on Friday looking at a pornographic image on the tablet, which he was holding just under his table in the legislative chamber.

The photograph, first posted on a local news website, sparked uproar on the Twitter microblogging site over the weekend and the House ethics committee launched an inquiry.

Mr Arifinto, who goes by one name, had said he had unintentionally opened an email link that led to the image. But the photographer who took the shot said the lawmaker was watching a porn video.

Source: ST Online/AFP

Friday, April 8, 2011

Waitress fined $3K for making false rape report

SHE felt guilty cheating on her boyfriend so she lied to him about being raped.

Upon his urging, Li Jieyin, 22, lodged a police report. On Friday, the plump waitress was fined $3,000 for giving false information to Senior Staff Sergeant Matthew Ng of the Bedok North neighbourhood police centre on May 14, 2009.

She told police she had been raped by 'Didi, her godbrother' in the Golden Dragon Hotel in Geylang Road two days earlier on May 12. However, a medical examination revealed no bruising on her body or any signs of a struggle.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Goh also told the court that Li confessed to Senior Station Inspector Cecilia Yeo eight days later about making up the rape accusation. She admitted that her guilty conscience prompted her to tell her boyfriend when they met later that day at the Pasir Ris MRT station but she also told him that Didi had forced himself on her.

However, during the two-day trial in early 2011, Li - who did not have a lawyer - tried to retract this confession by claiming that she had made it in a 'confused and disturbed' state of mind. Found guilty and convicted on March 25, she asked on Friday, to be spared a jail sentence as her mother was dying of cancer.

District Judge Low Wee Ping said that although the usual sentence for giving false information to the police is a jail term, he was making an exception in this case. The judge said that she had lied to the police to placate her boyfriend and not to get the police to mount an investigation.

Source: ST Online

Youth admits to raping step-sister

A 16-YEAR-OLD was on weekend leave from a welfare home when he raped his step-sister in 2009.

The youth, now 18, did it four times in all when she was 14 and 15, at their home in the east. As a result, the girl became pregnant and delivered a baby girl in January 2010. The infant has been fostered out.

A Community Court heard on Friday that the victim and her nine-year-old half-brother were watching television at home one night in February 2009 when the accused started disturbing her by hitting her on the arms. She hit him back in a playful manner as they had done, when they were young.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail Wong said the accused suddenly felt an urge to have sex with the victim. He caught hold of her, pulled her into the bedroom and locked the door.

The victim shouted at her half-brother to take the spare keys and open the door. The accused then stood at the door to prevent her from leaving. He also opened the door and took away the keys from their half-brother and told him not to disturb. He raped her. He raped her again the following month.

The girl was too ashamed to tell her parents. The offences came to light in October 2009 when she revealed to a school counsellor what her step-brother had done. The accused, who had two other charges taken into consideration, will be sentenced on April 20. The maximum penalty for rape is 20 years, a fine or caning.

Source: ST Online

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Teen faces 5 more molest charges

A TEEN charged a week ago with molesting a 15-year-old girl in Tampines was accused of five more offences on Thursday.

Jeremy Yeo Ming Che, 16, is said in the new charges to have similarly used wrongful restraint to molest his victims, aged 11 to 41, at a void deck and lift lobbies in Tampines between Feb 28 and March 22.

He was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric assessment.

He will be back in court on April 21.

Source: ST Online

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Woman was stepdad's 'sex slave' for 15 years

KUALA LUMPUR - AFTER seven abortions and being raped repeatedly by her stepfather since she was a child, a 28-year-old woman fled her home in Kedah.

The victim, who wished to be known only as Zt, said she became her stepfather's sex slave after he first raped her when she was only 11-years-old.

'My mother had no idea of what was happening all these years. She only knew when I revealed everything before leaving the house,' she said, adding that her stepfather forbade her to mingle with other people.

'He raped me at our house, in the jungle or at his rented house after fetching me from school,' she told reporters at the office of MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong here yesterday.

She was accompanied by Umno Youth community complaints bureau head Datuk Muhammad Khairun Aseh. Still afraid, Zt refused to disclose where she had sought refuge nor divulge her full identity.

Zt said she feared her 58-year-old stepfather would come looking for her. She had lodged a police report in Penang against the man after running away in December 2008.

Source: ST Online/THE STAR/ANN

Monday, April 4, 2011

Student placed on probation for pimping in Geylang

A NANYANG Polytechnic student was on Monday ordered to serve 1 1/2 years of probation for living off three Geylang prostitutes. Wong Jiong Yang, 18, also admitted to managing a place of assignation, or the contact point for customers seeking the services of the prostitutes.

The first-year mechatronics student had pleaded guilty last month. Sentencing was adjourned to evaluate Wong's suitability for rehabilitation.

Probation was recommended and on Monday, District Judge Soh Tze Bian ordered Wong to start off with four months of intensive probation, during which he will be electronically tagged. He would also have to do 100 hours of community service. Wong's parents have to place a $5,000 bond to ensure his good behaviour.

His father told reporters that he was glad his son had been arrested before the youth sank deeper into crime.

Wong was picked up after three Thai prostitutes, aged between 22 and 27, were arrested in a Geylang lodging house on Jan 24. They told police Wong was their pimp, and he was brought in.

Investigations revealed that he had been recruited by an unidentified man called Zen through an Internet chatroom in December last year. The polytechnic student made $5 for every $50 that he collected from each customer. The court heard that he spent the money on his daily expenses.

Source: ST Online

Friday, April 1, 2011

Heartbeat molester gets 10 years and caning

A MAN dubbed the heartbeat molester was sentenced to 10 years' jail and 21 strokes of the cane on Friday for molesting young girls over a span of 11 years.

Described as one of the worst serial offenders, Martin Tan Chye Guan, 48, pleaded guilty to eight of 28 charges of outrage of modesty.

He has been diagnosed a paedophile by the Institute of Mental Health.

In all, 28 victims aged seven to 12 were molested by him in various parts of Singapore between Feb 1, 1999 and Oct 8 last year. Tan, then a courier and part-time property agent, was arrested in November last year following a tip-off from a member of the public after viewing a CCTV image released through the media for information.

The court heard that he would pretend to look for directions or lie that he was looking for a friend's unit, and lure the victims to the staircase landing to molest them. Deputy Public Prosecutor Agnes Chan told the court that he would violate the private parts of the victims under the pretext of asking them to feel his heartbeat or under the guise of fortune-telling by reading their palms.

She had urged District Judge Roy Neighbour to impose a substantial sentence with caning in view of the aggravating factors. She said Tan was clearly a risk and danger to society and needed to be put off circulation for a long time to safeguard the safety and interests of the public.

Source: ST Online

Musicians' dad gets 10 years to life for sex abuse

LOS ANGELES - THE patriarch of the sibling piano group 5 Browns was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison by a judge in Provo, Utah for sexually abusing his daughters when they were children, a report said on Thursday.

Keith Brown, 55, was ordered to serve concurrent terms of 10 years to life in prison on a single count of sodomy on a child, and one to 15 years on two counts of sexual abuse of a child, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Brown pleaded guilty to the felony charges in February after nearly six months of negotiations with prosecutors. His three adult daughters publicly confirmed that they had been victimised by him during the 1990s.

The sisters - Desirae, 32, Deondra, 30, and Melody, 26 - are joined in the group by their brothers Ryan and Gregory.

Their father formerly managed the group.

The plea deal, to which the sisters consented, meant that the sentences were at the lighter end of what Brown would have faced had he gone to trial and been convicted.

Source: ST Online/REUTERS