SINGAPORE, June 9 -- A man was sentenced to eight years and nine months in jail and six strokes of the cane for raping a 13-year-old girl he met on an online platform that anonymously pairs strangers for video or text chats.

According to The Straits Times Kevin Tan Jia Hut, 28, pleaded guilty yesterday to one charge of rape. Three other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. He was 25 at the time of the offence.

According to the report, deputy public prosecutors Nicholas Wuan and Mavis Ng told the court that Tan and the victim became acquainted in May 2023 through the video-conferencing platform.

Their conversations quickly turned sexual in nature, and the two moved to Telegram, where they discussed meeting up...