Singapore: Indian-origin former national serviceman with the Singapore Police Force, AR Arun Prashanth was sentenced to two years’ jail Tuesday for preying on underage girls online and involving them in sexual acts.
A R Arun Prashanth, 25, committed sexual acts on three of his five victims who were then aged 12 to 15, and was found to have snapped more than 700 upskirt photos of unknown women with his mobile phone, the ‘Straits Times’ here reported.
Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Kessler Soh told Arun Prashanth: “I hope you realise that what you had done had caused serious harm to the five young girls.”
Arun Prashanth, who is now jobless, pleaded guilty July 31 to one count each of sexually penetrating a minor, performing an obscene act on her and procuring the commission of an obscene act by another underage girl. He also admitted to four counts of insulting a woman’s modesty. These seven charges involved two minors and four unknown women. The victims cannot be named due to a gag order, the report said.
Sometime between February and March 2016, Arun sent a message to a 12-year-old girl through Instagram and they exchanged mobile phone numbers when she responded in April that year. Arun Prashanth soon started sending her lewd messages several times a day. The court heard he had also told the girl on at least two occasions that he was a policeman.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kwang Jia Min said: “The accused pestered her for naked pictures or videos of herself showering. He also pressed her to meet him at his house or hotels for ‘cuddles’ or acts of sex. (The girl) felt harassed by the accused and she would try to ignore him. However, she would feel bad for not replying and she replied at times.”
The girl relented May 8, 2016 after he repeatedly harassed her. The DPP said that the girl later regretted giving in to his request and felt depressed.
However, when Arun Prashanth performed an obscene act on another girl aged 14 at his residence, he got duly exposed. The incident happened February 3, 2017 at Arun Prashanth’s residence. The girl straightaway went to the Sembawang Neighbourhood Police Centre to lodge a report. Officers arrested Arun at his home the next day and they uncovered 720 upskirt photographs of unknown women on his mobile phone during an investigation.
PTI
