SINGAPORE – A 16-year-old boy used a fake Instagram account and tricked another teenager into performing a series of lewd acts, which the offender recorded and later used to extort his victim.
The now 18-year-old offender, who cannot be named due to a gag order, pleaded guilty to one count of cheating and one count of extortion on Oct 23.
Another charge for cheating and distributing intimate images and recordings were taken into consideration for sentencing.
In February 2023, the teenager contacted the victim via Instagram with a fake account under the name “Bella”.
He chose the name to give the impression that the account user was female.
To pull it off, the youth downloaded inappropriate photos of girls off the internet – which did not include facial features – and sent them to the victim.
“This was to give the victim the impression that the photos were of ‘Bella’. The accused also had regular conversations with the victim about sexual fantasies, and misled the victim into believing they were in a romantic relationship,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephen Yeo.
In subsequent video calls between the two, the victim would show his face but the offender did not turn on his camera. The victim was asked to perform lewd acts and show his private parts.
The video calls were recorded by the young offender, who sent them to a friend of his, identified in court documents as “W1”.
