Man with anime fetish for girls in school uniform touched dozens of them, court told

SINGAPORE — A man who said he has a fetish for "anime girls mostly in uniform attire" admitted to molesting three primary school girls aged 11 to 14.

On Sept 19, Kieron Ng Kay Lin, 20, pleaded guilty to one charge of outraging the modesty of an 11-year-old girl. The charges involving the two other victims, 12 and 14, and a separate charge under the Protection from Harassment Act will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Other than these three victims, there were many other young girls whose legs he had touched, said the prosecution.

According to an Institute of Mental Health (IMH) report, Ng confessed that he had repeatedly done this since 2021.

When asked how many girls he had touched, he said: "Two digits but below 60."

The girls were mostly below the age of 16, and the majority of them were in school uniform.

Ng was arrested for molesting a 12-year-old girl in May 2023 but was released on bail. In July 2023, he committed a similar offence and was arrested again.

He was again released on bail but reoffended the next month.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Chong said that in August 2023, the 11-year-old primary school pupil was walking home after school when Ng approached her.

Ng asked the girl if she could help him with his school project, and she agreed.

He took the girl to a staircase landing, where he got her to play what the prosecutor called "the giant game".

Ng tore a piece of paper into small pieces and scattered them on the floor. He then asked the girl to imagine that she was a giant and demonstrate how she would move through the "cities" as represented by the small pieces of paper.

After the girl complied, Ng told the girl to sit on the staircase while he sat two steps below her and stroked her legs.

The prosecutor said Ng was sexually aroused when he did this and continued to stroke her legs for at least a minute.

The girl was uncomfortable and told Ng to stop, but he ceased only when she said she needed to return home to do her homework.

The girl went home crying and told her mother, who called the police. Ng was traced and arrested on the same day.

In an interview with a doctor from IMH after he was arrested, Ng admitted that he had a habit of watching pornography involving "anime girls mostly in uniform attire, and (who) are giants".

Ng added that he was "sexually aroused by legs, specifically legs which were straight and thin".

DPP Chong said: "In the present case, when he stroked the victim's legs, he was 'acting out his anime fantasy life, turning fantasy into reality'."

Despite being aware of his offending, Ng's parents were unable to restrain their son from reoffending thrice while on bail, the prosecutor said.

"The accused's father admitted that he had repeatedly counselled the accused not to engage in the giant game as he might get into trouble, but his counsel had been to no avail," said DPP Chong.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Gopal Perumal said his client has no previous record, adding that Ng has "come very clean with all his past conduct and has his family's full support".

Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh called for probation and reformative training suitability reports and adjourned the case to November.

[[nid:682755]]

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