AR Arun Prashanth, 25, has been jailed for two years. (Representational)
An Indian-origin former Singapore cop was sentenced to two years in jail for sexually assaulting minors, the police said.
AR Arun Prashanth, 25, allegedly sexually abused girls aged between 12 and 15. He also allegedly took obscene photos of about 700 women, the Straits Times reported.
Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Kessler Soh told him: "I hope you realise that what you had done had caused serious harm to the five young girls."
Last month, Arun Prashanth pleaded guilty 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."
Twenty-one other charges for similar offences involving three other young girls and several unknown women were considered during sentencing. His victims cannot be named due to a gag order, the report said.
Sometime between February and March 2016, Arun Prashanth began sending obscene messages to a minor. 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 sexual intercourse. 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 man got to know another girl through a WhatsApp group chat in 2016 and messaged her separately in October that year. He told the 14-year-old that he was from the Home Team (also considered as part of police force) and she told him her age when he asked for it.
He pestered her to meet up but she rejected him and later blocked him on WhatsApp as she found his messages "very annoying". Despite this, he continued to send her messages through Instagram, the court heard.
The man invited the girl to his home and sexually assaulted her. After leaving the man's house, she went to the police. Cops arrested him the next day.
Arun Prashanth's lawyers had told the judge that their client was a first-time offender and asked the court to sentence him to 20 months in jail.