Former national shuttler to plead guilty to sexual offences against minor
Once Singapore’s second-ranked singles badminton player, Ashton Chen Yongzhao has landed himself in a criminal court and indicated on Monday (June 4) he would plead guilty to sexual offences against a minor.
SINGAPORE — Once Singapore’s second-ranked singles badminton player who reached a career-high world ranking of 50, Ashton Chen Yongzhao has landed himself in a criminal court and indicated on Monday (June 4) he would plead guilty to sexual offences against a minor.
The 28-year-old was charged in April with six offences, including consensual sex with an underage girl. He is currently out on bail of S$15,000 and will appear in court again on June 27.
Court documents showed that the girl was 13 in 2014, when she supposedly performed oral sex on Chen at the staircase landing of Block 935 Tampines St 91. It was not mentioned how they met or the nature of their relationship.
The girl performed the same act on him again at a multi-storey carpark at Block 248 Simei Street 2 between late 2015 and early 2016. They also had sexual intercourse.
In June 2016, Chen allegedly performed oral sex on the girl in a nursing room at Eastpoint Mall in Simei. One month later, the girl purportedly performed oral sex on him at another staircase landing at Block 120 Simei Street 1.
Chen participated in major regional competitions including the South-east Asian (SEA) Games, where he was part of the men’s team that won silver in 2007, and bronze in 2009 and 2011. He was ranked 69th in the world when he retired from the sport in 2014.
If convicted of having consensual sex with a child below 14 years old, he could be jailed for up to 20 years and caned or fined. If found guilty of having consensual sex with a minor between 14 and 15 years old, he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
