A 15-year-old aspiring model has been linked to an alleged sex scandal involving a freelance photographer.
Though the secondary school student claimed that she had never posed for him, her picture has appeared in online postings that claim he had slept with young models, including her.
Linda (not her real name) said her picture was taken by another photographer and she had not met the man in question, let alone had a photoshoot or sex with him.
She said a male friend had referred her to the photographer, whom we shall call Tim, and they had a WhatsApp exchange about a photoshoot last October.
But she pulled out of it after he made a sleazy suggestion.
Linda, who cannot be identified as she may be the victim of a sexual offence,told The New Paper last week that while Tim did not have sex with her, his suggestion horrified her.
While discussing her facial expressions for the photoshoot in their WhatsApp exchange, he had suggested she should "DIY" ("do it yourself") to achieve a particular expression, Linda said.
He went on to explain what he meant: "Girl exploring herself", which she took to mean masturbation.
"He knew I was 15. That was one of the first things I told him. It angered me that he had asked such a thing of me," Linda said.
"I chose not to reply to him but he kept sending me messages asking me why I wasn't replying.
"Most of them were head shots of models and there was a somewhat sexual element to them."
The photographer had scheduled a shoot at his home in late October, but Linda didn't show up.
Referring to her photograph used in the online postings, Linda said: "This photo was on my Facebook. And EDMW (Eat Drink Man Woman, a popular forum on HardwareZone), which was the first website to break the news, took it and started posting it online with the sex scandal story because I was tagged in a post.
"I'm being used as a cover for the model who really had sex with Tim.
"I didn't even meet him. Now people think it's me and it's embarrassing."
The picture shows Linda clad in micro denim shorts and a midriff-baring tank top.
When TNP tracked Tim down, the 30-year-old freelancer said it was a misunderstanding and that he did not mean for Linda to touch herself.
"I wouldn't ask her to pleasure herself in front of me. I'd have stopped her even if she did.
"I was just suggesting that the expression she should have is like if she is being pleasured," he said.
Tim also confirmed Linda's account that they had never met.
He admitted he had previously sent suggestive images to his potential models to give them an idea of the style he wanted.
Ruined reputation
Asked about the allegations that he had sex with his young models, Tim admitted to having consensual sex with an 18-year-old model.
"We were doing an expression shoot, which was for her to portray a certain expression, at my place," he said.
"I massaged her to get her comfortable for the photoshoot but it then became lust and it happened."
He said this was the first time he had sex with a model he was shooting and that he deeply regretted it.
Then came the online allegations.
Tim said: "The whole thing has ruined my reputation and made me lose clients.
"It was something which I didn't think through and it was a mistake.
"What happened should serve as a warning to other models to be careful of people like me... I let myself get carried away."
Tim, who previously worked in the IT industry, has been doing freelance photography for the last 18 months.
He has a home studio where he takes portrait shots of female models. He has done bikini shoots for girls as young as 16.
Tim said that he now wants to take a break from doing portrait shoots as it involves him being alone with models in his home.
Instead, he'll focus on other types of photography or conduct outdoor shootings.
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