SINGAPORE — Over three years, a business analyst at a bank reeled in a total of 31 girls and young women with the lure of money and manipulated the victims into sexually exposing themselves to him.

Hee Lic Yuan, 32, committed the offences from 2019 to 2021, when the victims were between 13 and 22 years old.

On April 16, he was sentenced to six years and nine months' jail and six strokes of the cane.

Hee had pleaded guilty to 15 charges for offences including sexually penetrating an underage girl and producing sexually explicit material involving a minor.

The charges involved a total of 11 girls and women. Hee had asked most of them to be his "sugar baby" before he committed the offences. The term is used to describe a younger person who is willing to spend time with a richer and often older man — a sugar daddy — in exchange for cash and gifts.

Forty-four other charges, including those involving the other victims, were considered during his sentencing.

Hee started committing his offences in either 2017 and 2018, when he followed the Instagram account of a girl, who was then around 15 years old. She was identified as V2 in court documents.

He was aware of her age as it was displayed on her account. They had a conversation and he started asking V2 for her nude pictures.

Hee offered her $150 for each nude video and $50 for each photo of her in the nude. The girl sent him one of each, and he paid her $200 via PayPal.

A few days later, he asked V2 if she wanted to meet him in person. She declined as she suspected that he wanted to have sex with her.

In May 2019, he offered her $350 for sex. The girl agreed and went to his home and was paid.

The following month, Hee asked V2 for sex again. She replied she wanted $350.

During the session, Hee took out his mobile phone and started recording a video of her. V2 told him to stop and he replied that he would delete the recording. He then transferred an undisclosed amount of money to V2, less than the agreed amount of $350.

Unhappy, V2 later blocked Hee on Instagram and Telegram but he continued to send her messages through the PayLah application.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min told the court: "After June 2019, the accused asked V2 to unblock him on Telegram, which she did. The accused sent a Telegram message to V2 demanding for her to return...$100 to him, which V2 refused to do.

"The accused then sent V2 a topless photo of herself that she had previously sent to him and threatened to leak (it) if she did not return the $100 to him."

V2 told Hee that the topless photo was taken when she was still a child and that he would go to jail if he leaked it. He hurled vulgarities at the teenager, who blocked him again.

Hee targeted 10 more victims, including his youngest one, who was then just 13 years old and identified in court documents as V7. Between Jan 1 and 31, 2021, he sent a message to her Instagram account and asked the minor if she wanted to be his sugar baby. She then told him her age.

Despite this, he explained to her the terms of the "sugar baby arrangement". He also asked for her pictures, including nude ones, in exchange for money.

V7 then sent Hee around 20 of such pictures of herself, as he had said that he would pay her "several thousands of dollars".

The prosecutor told the court: "V7 told the accused that she did not want to send him any more photos of herself.

"The accused then said that if V7 did not continue sending him photos of herself, he would not pay V7 the promised amount, and knowingly threatened to distribute V7's naked photos...to her Instagram followers."

V7 felt distressed when she saw Hee's threat and stopped replying to him.

About two weeks later, he sent her another message, threatening to leak her photos if she did not send him naked pictures of herself.

V7 was scared but she refused to give in to his demands. She also asked if he intended to follow through on his threat. He replied that he did not intend to do so and ended their conversation.

On March 2021, some other victims alerted the police and Hee was later charged in court that year.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.