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SINGAPORE: After meeting a 13-year-old girl at a cosplay event, a 20-year-old man committed an indecent act with the minor in a mall bathroom after tying and handcuffing her.
Alaric Lim Qixian, who was a full-time national serviceman with the Singapore Civil Defense Force at the time, pleaded guilty on Monday (September 28) to one count of indecent act with a child.
He also admitted to two other charges of taking videos of women up their skirts, which were discovered after his arrest for the first crime.
The court heard that Lim met the victim at a cosplay event and began chatting on Instagram. Lim claimed he was a photographer and offered to hold a private shoot for her, sending her some examples of scantily-clad women.
The victim, who was 13 years old, declined this offer but said she would be interested in participating in a private photo session that involves “servitude and stuff,” the prosecutor said.
Later, the victim agreed to try a photoshoot, but clarified that she was not willing to be completely naked. Lim suggested tying him a rope harness and offered to provide various accessories, before suggesting a “test run” in a handicap bathroom at a shopping mall.
They met around 5.30pm on May 22 last year in Plaza Singapura, before going to a disabled toilet and spending about 15 minutes playing a mobile phone game.
Following this, Lim tied a rope harness over the victim’s clothing. He then used a blindfold and handcuffs on her.
He proceeded to abuse her and the girl told him to stop. The victim was “shocked and disgusted” by what he was doing to her, but did not cry out for help because she feared he would hurt her more.
After about 15 minutes, Lim removed the blindfold, handcuffs and rope from the victim. The victim took a bus home and immediately showered, feeling “very upset.”
She told her mother what had happened and the next day they filed a police report. Lim was later arrested and an examination of his phone uncovered three upskirt videos that he had recorded at a train station in January 2018.
Lim’s attorneys said Lim “was not excited by this act of cosplay activity,” adding that “his intentions were not to take advantage of the victim, but simply to represent what the parties intended.”
“The defendant has since learned that there is a distinction between the cosplay mode of activity and (the) real world,” said Mr. Richard Lim and Ms. Lolita Andrew.
Lim is repentant and has no prior convictions, they added.
The judge requested reports to assess his suitability for parole and reformer training, and postponed sentencing until November.
For indecent act with a child, Lim could be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S $ 10,000, or both. For each count of insulting a woman’s modesty, you could be jailed for up to a year, fined, or both.
