A 16-year-old boy in Singapore created an Instagram account pretending to be a girl to deceive another teenager into performing lewd acts, which he later used to extort money.
Now 18, the offender, who cannot be named due to a gag order, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (23 Oct) to one count of cheating and one count of extortion.
Another charge of cheating and distributing intimate recordings was taken into consideration.
He will be sentenced on 12 January 2025.
In February 2023, the teen set up an Instagram account under the name “Bella” to give the impression that he was female.
According to The Straits Times (ST), he downloaded explicit photos of girls online — none showing faces — and sent them to his victim to make the account seem real.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephen Yeo noted that the offender also had regular sexual conversations with the victim, misleading him into believing they were in a romantic relationship.
Source: Azman Jaka on Canva. Image for illustrative purposes only.
During their video calls, the victim would show his face while the offender kept his camera off.
The boy persuaded the victim to perform lewd acts, which he recorded and later sent to a friend, identified as “W1” in court documents.
Between February and December 2023, he tricked the victim into performing sexual acts multiple times and even forced him to eat butter and cheese despite the victim saying he could not swallow any more food.
Under the guise of “Bella”, he also convinced the victim to send iTunes gift cards and cash worth about S$390.
By July 2023, the offender began using the intimate videos to extort money from the victim.
Pretending to be “Bella”, he threatened to circulate the clips unless the victim paid him.
Fearing exposure, the victim complied and hid cash in a book at Popular bookshop in Tampines Mall.
The offender collected the money, giving W1 a S$20 cut from the first S$100 payment, ST reported.
Source: Google Maps
He used the same method five times between July and December 2023, extorting a total of S$2,450.
The victim lodged a police report on 8 June 2024.
The teen was arrested two days later and released on bail the same night.
A probation and reformative training report has been called for the offender, who is currently remanded.
For cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both, ST said.
For extortion, the maximum penalty is 10 years’ jail and a fine.
Also read: 16-year-old boy keeps lookout while teens rape girl in Bukit Panjang carpark, pleads guilty
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Featured image by Azman Jaka on Canva and MS News. Image on the left for illustration purposes only.