A 16-year-old boy thought he was in an online relationship with a girl named “Bella”. He even filmed a series of humiliating acts to please her, including soaking his private parts in chilli oil, setting his hair on fire, and performing a sex act on camera.
But “Bella” was not real. She was a male classmate pretending to be a girl. Together with another friend, they used the videos to extort money from the victim, demanding a total of $2,450, reported Zaobao.
The two teens involved in the scam are aged 17 and 18. The 17-year-old (referred to as A) was the mastermind who posed as “Bella,” while the 18-year-old (referred to as B) assisted in the plan.
On Wednesday (30 July), B’s case was heard in the State Courts. He faced two charges. One for cheating and another for extortion. He pleaded guilty to one charge, while the other will be considered during sentencing.
The victim was 16 at the time of the incident. To protect his identity, the court has ordered a gag order; therefore, details, including the names of the accused, will not be published.
According to court documents, A set up a fake Instagram account under the name “Bella” in February 2023 and started an online relationship with the victim. Through this fake identity, he got the victim to do various things on camera, including the chilli oil act, burning his hair with a lighter, and masturbation.
A secretly recorded the masturbation act and later shared the video with B, who became aware of the plan.
In July 2023, A used the “Bella” account to threaten the victim, saying that if he didn’t pay money, the masturbation video would be leaked.
Between July and December, A and B managed to get a total of $2,450 from the victim across five separate occasions.
B was arrested on 10 June last year. The victim had reported that “Bella” was blackmailing him, and police investigations later revealed the identities of the two accused teens.
The prosecution noted that A’s case is still pending, but asked the court to consider probation for B since he was under 20 at the time and should be given a chance for rehabilitation.
The judge granted the request and postponed sentencing to 15 September, pending a probation suitability report.
