Singapore pastor charged for sex with underage girl
A Singaporean pastor was charged Monday with having sex with a 15-year-old girl who belonged to his congregation, police and local media said. No details were released by the police but the Straits Times identified him as a 45-year-old father of three. His name was withheld in order to protect the identity of the 15-year-old girl with whom he allegedly had intercourse in a public park and oral sex inside the church premises in 2011, according to the report. Under Singapore law, it is an offence to engage in sex with anyone under the age of 16, even if it is consensual. The offence is punishable by up to 10 years in jail or a fine, or both. Singapore, better known in the past as a straitlaced society that bans sexual content in the media, has been rocked by a slew of sex scandals since last year. A former narcotics police chief is on trial in a sex-for-contracts case involving a technology supplier. Fifty-one men including civil servants, businessmen and uniformed officers were brought to court last year for paying for sex with an underage prostitute. Former Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer stepped down last month and quit the ruling party after confessing to an extramarital affair.
