A MAN infected with HIV yesterday became the first such person here to be convicted of having unprotected sex with a 16-year-old boy without first telling him about the risks of contracting the virus.
Former chef Chan Mun Chiong, 43, pleaded guilty to performing oral sex on the teenager at a public toilet in Northpoint Shopping Centre in Yishun last year and was sentenced to 12 months’ jail for the offence under the Infectious Diseases Act.
The court heard that on Sept 15 last year, while at the mall, Chan signalled from under a toilet cubicle’s partition to the boy who was in an adjacent cubicle that he wanted to engage in sex.
The pair proceeded to a third-level toilet for the disabled where Chan performed fellatio for two to three minutes.
Shortly after, he asked the teenager to turn around but he refused. Despite repeated attempts, the boy did not relent and asked Chan to leave.
When he saw that Chan was following him around the mall later, he became worried and asked a security officer for help.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Royce Wee said Chan had been diagnosed to be HIVpositive since March 1999 but he did not inform the boy of the risks involved nor did he get the victim to voluntarily agree to accept that risk before the sexual act.
Although the boy was fortunate not to be infected with the virus that causes Aids, DPP Wee told District Judge Bala Reddy that the victim regretted the incident and has since fallen out with his parents. He urged the judge to impose an appropriate sentence.
Last month, Parliament passed amendments to the Act, increasing the maximum fine to $50,000 and/or imprisonment up to 10 years. But the changes had not kicked in when Chan was prosecuted in May.