Man jailed, caned for obscene acts with a child

SINGAPORE — For about two years, he used his expertise in a popular card game for sinister reasons: Young boys’ nude photos or videos and sexual favours.

Ten boys, aged 10 to 15, fell prey to Goh Jun Guan before his jig was up. When he was arrested, officers found 41 photos of male genitals and two photos depicting oral sex on his mobile phone.

Goh, 27, was sentenced to 12½ year’s jail and 15 strokes of the cane by a High Court on Friday (Nov 18) on 30 charges, mainly for engaging in oral sex and obscene acts with a child.

From 2012 to 2014, Goh would often lurk around game shops in the western part of Singapore, offering to coach young players in Vanguard, a popular trading card game.

He snagged one of his victims, 12, at one such shop in Jurong Point sometime in 2012. In return for training him in Vanguard, Goh wanted to remove the boy’s shorts and underwear and molest him.

It was not stated in court if the boy complied. But he later went to Goh’s house to play the card game. When Goh beat the boy in the game, he made him perform oral sex as a forfeit. The boy left the house after that and kept quiet about the incident out of shame.

After that incident, the boy refused to return to Goh’s house, although they continued to play the card game together. When the boy lost a second time, Goh made the boy follow him to a handicapped toilet at Pioneer Mall and persuaded the boy to perform oral sex on him.

On another occasion in 2013, Goh told an 11-year-old victim that he would teach him new Vanguard tricks on one condition: A photo of his genitals.

Sometime in August 2014, one of his 10 victims was assisting the police with an unrelated investigation when he told an officer that he had been exchanging photos and videos of his genitals with someone on Facebook.

The police tracked Goh down to his Jurong West flat and arrested him.

He told investigators that he realised he was sexually attracted to young boys at the age of 12, and found it difficult to stop thinking about them in a sexual way.

Goh was also diagnosed with paedophilic disorder.

Calling for 21 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane, Deputy Public Prosecutor Charlene Tay Chia said that Goh’s modus operandi was to form friendships with boys that later turned into sexual relations.

“There was a constant and recurring pattern — it started out in friendship that arose out of Vanguard but evolved into fellatio and exchanging photos and videos of masturbation,” she said.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Richard Lim said his client was adopted and had been bullied in his school days. This caused Goh to prefer to seek the company of younger children who admired him.

“He got acquainted with young boys, but had no intention of exploiting them sexually initially. He did not like to be alone ... During a time when he watched pornography almost every night, he decided to play with them,” said Mr Lim.

In his sentencing remarks, Justice Woo Bih Li rejected Goh’s defence that he felt “happier and safer” among younger children because he wanted to protect them from being bullied and keep them out of trouble.

“If you were going to protect them from trouble, you would not have done what you did to the various victims,” said Justice Woo. “I hope you do truly turn over a new leaf after you serve your sentence, otherwise you’ll be back before the court and the next time, sentences will be more severe.”