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SINGAPORE – Adults caught having sexual communication with minors and meeting them in real life may face sexual grooming charges, which carry a sentence of caning and imprisonment. <\/p>\n
In a joint response to queries by The Straits Times over the Leomatch bot on Telegram<\/span><\/a>, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said they are aware that young people are using the bot, and of the risks of it being misused by malicious actors to sexually groom or exploit them. <\/p>\n \u201cWe take this matter seriously, and the Government has several measures in place to deal with online grooming or exploitation,\u201d said the authorities.<\/p>\n Offenders above the age of 18 convicted of sexual grooming can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both. <\/p>\n For having sexual communication with a minor, an offender can be jailed for between two and three years and fined, depending on the age of the victim. <\/p>\n Concerns were raised over the bot after three men were hauled to court for using it to prey on young victims. <\/p>\n One of them was a 25-year-old man. He lured two young girls into having sex with him by lying that he was a 15-year-old student at the Singapore Sports School. <\/p>\n He was sentenced to 11 years\u2019 jail and 10 strokes of the cane in February.<\/p>\n Another case involved a 31-year-old man who was diagnosed with paedophilic disorder. He tried to lure a 14-year-old boy he met via the bot into having sex with him as \u201cfriends with benefits\u201d. <\/p>\n Checks by ST found that Leomatch is still accessible to Telegram users. <\/p>\n Lawyers and counsellors told ST in a previous interview that they had noticed an increase in the number of cases involving individuals who met sexual partners and minors under 14 through the dating bot. <\/p>\n Counsellor Jason Woolley from Counselling Perspective said then that children who are not engaged socially in school or at home might be drawn to such platforms, which offer connection and attention. <\/p>\n He added that young people may still be developing their ability to detect manipulation, which a predator understands and can exploit.<\/p>\n