Former navy cook jailed for sexually abusing 15-year-old boy with army captain

SINGAPORE: A former chef with the Republic of Singapore Navy arranged to meet a 15-year-old boy he met online along with his former boyfriend, a captain in the Singapore Army.

While at a multi-storey car park, the two older men sexually abused the 15-year-old schoolboy.

Owen Toh Wei Song, a 26-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to 12 months' jail on Tuesday (Sep 22). He pleaded guilty to a charge of causing a minor to perform sexual penetration, with another two charges taken into consideration.

The court heard that Toh was a chef with the navy at the time of the offences.

Around April 2024, a 15-year-old secondary school student searched online for ways to make friends.

He was directed to an online forum for "mature Singaporean gay men".

The boy browsed the profiles and selected Toh's profile, which had a link to Toh's Telegram chat account.

The victim then communicated with Toh on Telegram, providing personal details such as his age.

Toh came to know that the victim was in secondary school and would be taking his N-Level examinations that year.

They began talking about niche sexual topics. Toh said that he was not experienced in that area but added that he knew his former boyfriend was.

This ex-boyfriend was co-accused Chaw Chia Jun, who was 39 at the time and a captain in the Singapore Army.

Toh and Chaw had been in a relationship between 2021 and 2022 and remained in contact after separating.

The victim agreed to meet Toh's ex-boyfriend, so Toh contacted Chaw and told the boy that Chaw was 32.

Sometime before Jun 5, 2024, Chaw picked Toh up before driving to fetch the boy.

In the car, Chaw caressed the boy's thighs.

They went to a multi-storey car park in Punggol and parked at one of the uppermost decks where no one else was around.

Toh then performed a sex act on the boy while they were both naked, with Chaw filming them.

When Chaw asked the boy to perform a sex act on him, the boy declined.

The trio engaged in other sex acts before they returned to the car and drove off.

Toh obtained a copy of the video Chaw had taken and kept it on his computer.

The victim's mother and sisters later grew concerned about his behaviour and the gifts he had been receiving from an adult man.

They confronted the boy, and he disclosed the sexual encounter. The boy filed a police report on Oct 23, 2024.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

The prosecution sought 14 to 16 months' jail for Toh, saying that the victim was "situationally vulnerable" as a minor who was confronted by two adult men acting together.

He was also in an isolated location.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Maximilian Chew said that Toh was "the architect of the entire encounter", bringing together a 15-year-old boy and a 39-year-old man for a sexual purpose.

Toh was represented by Mr Josephus Tan, Mr Cory Wong and Mr Devlin Mohyong from Invictus Law.

They sought not more than 10 months' jail, saying it was the victim who searched online and initiated contact with Toh.

It was also the victim who said he was interested in certain niche sex topics and wanted to "explore" those acts.

The lawyers added that Toh's offending was confined to a single encounter.

Chaw is set to plead guilty next month.

For causing a minor below 16 to perform sexual penetration, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.

CNA has contacted the Ministry of Defence for more information.