Singapore court jails former principal for sex with a minor

Lee Lip Hong, the former principal of Pei Chun Public School pleaded guilty this morning.u00a0

The court heard that Lee first came to know of the girl's services from an Internet vice website, and then procured her services through the website, which stated the girl's age as 18.

Lee's lawyer Melanie Ho told the court that her client was misled about the girl's real age as the pimp, Tang Boon Thiew, told him that the girl was 19 years old.

Lee said he was fully ashamed of his actions, which have caused pain and harm to his family, especially his wife. He also said he had disappointed many who entrusted him to be their role model.

He acknowledged that it was his personal lack of control of his moral standards and his weak resistance to distractions that led to his mistake.

Lee broke down during the court session as his lawyer pleaded for leniency, according to a report by the Channel News Asia.

Some 80 people were investigated for the Internet based sex scandal busted by the police late last year. More than half of them have been charged in the court. Lee was charged on April 16 along with 43 others for having sex with the minor through the online vice ring.

They paid between SGD 450 and SGD 850 for sexual services with the young girl between September 2010 and February 2011.

The girl's identity is protected and was not named in the court as she was minor at that time. u00a0