What is an "exploitative sexual relationship" and why is this important?

In 2019, the Criminal Law Reform Bill introduced amendments to the Penal Code 1871. This included amendments to the provisions relating to sex crimes, and also introduced new sexual offences. One of these was termed "exploitative sexual activity with minors" by Minister K Shanmugam in Parliament.

While the age of consent for sexual activity in Singapore is 16 years old, there may be situations in which minors between 16 to 18 years old may be exploited for sexual gratification by persons who are in relationships of trust with the minor. In such cases, the minor's consent is compromised and the exploitation can give rise to an offence, whether involving sexual penetration, sexual grooming or sexual communications.

Where the minor is below 16 years old and there is evidence of exploitation, the offence is viewed even more seriously and the punishment is enhanced. Thus, a new Section 377CA was enacted to set out the meaning of an "exploitative relationship". In sum, if the relationship falls within a set of predefined categories, there is a rebuttable presumption that it is an exploitative one, unless the accused person proves otherwise. If the relationsip is not within the predefined categories, then the overarching question is whether there is a power imbalance between the minor and the accused person.

In the case of former actor Ian Fang (or Fang Weijie), there was no allegation that he was in an exploitative relationship with the minor, who was 15 years old at the time of the offences. The relationship between the two did not fall wthin one of the predefined categories giving rise to a presumption. News media reported that they met at an entertainment event. This would explain why he received a sentence without caning.

For more details, read the full commentary by CNA.