IN August, a married man, Rodney Sim Hang Nge, 60, became the first to be charged with having sex with an underage prostitute.

He had trysts with a 17-year-old in a Geylang Hotel, paying $100 on 3Aug and $30 two days later.

The New Paper also reported the case of two women from China earlier this year.

They had arrived here with high hopes for a brighter future, paying a substantial sum to an agent in China.

But they discovered that they were expected to work as prostitutes.

Fortunately, both women managed to escape and their would-be pimp, Chan Soh, ended up in court.

Wang Li Min and Li Jin Xiu, 29, both Chinese nationals, had met and become friends in July 2007. Li was working as a masseuse then.

In December last year, Li met a man who offered to recommend her to an agent, a woman called Li Wen Yan, who could arrange for jobs outside China.

The two women met the agent, who demanded 45,000 yuan ($9,850).

The agent led them to believe that all the necessary arrangements had been made, and all they had to do when they arrived was to meet a Singapore contact who would provide accommodation and jobs.

Tricked

On 30 Jan this year, the women arrived and were taken to a lodging house in Geylang.

At 10am the same morning, Chan went to the lodging house and met the women.

They discovered they had been tricked when he told them the visa they had did not permit them to work legally here.

Chan suggested they could work in illegal massage parlours and have sex with customers.

Their other option, he said, was to prostitute themselves on the street.

Both women flatly refused and insisted that he find them decent jobs.

That afternoon, Chan called them and told them he had found them jobs as masseuses.

But he told them again that they were required to provide sexual services.

The two women again refused.

Distressed, they left the lodging house and made a police report.

Chan was arrested and charged.

The 58-year-old pleaded guilty to attempting to procure Li for the purpose of prostitution here.

As the judge found that there was 'no suggestion of coercion' by Chan to force the two women to engage in sexual services, he was fined $3,000 in default of three weeks' jail.

The prosecution was dissatisfied with the sentence and lodged a Notice of Appeal on 9 May.

Chan has since paid the fine.

This story was first published in The New Paper on Oct 29, 2008.