Pastor charged for sex with minor
2013-01-14 16:36
Singapore - A Singaporean pastor was charged on Monday with having sex with
a 15-year-old girl who belonged to his congregation, police and local media
said.
No details were released by the police but the Straits Times identified him
as a 45-year-old father of three.
His name was withheld in order to protect the identity of the 15-year-old
girl with whom he allegedly had intercourse in a public park and oral sex
inside the church premises in 2011, according to the report.
Under Singapore law, it is an offence to engage in sex with anyone under the
age of 16, even if it is consensual. The offence is punishable by up to 10
years in jail or a fine, or both.
Singapore, better known in the past as a straitlaced society that bans
sexual content in the media, has been rocked by a slew of sex scandals since
last year.
A former narcotics police chief is on trial in a sex-for-contracts case
involving a technology supplier.
Fifty-one men including civil servants, businessmen and uniformed officers
were brought to court last year for paying for sex with an underage prostitute.
Former speaker of parliament Michael Palmer stepped down last month and quit
the ruling party after confessing to an extramarital affair.
