Former Mediacorp actor Ian Fang has been sentenced to 40 months in jail after pleading guilty to multiple sexual offences involving a 15-year-old girl he met while working as an acting coach at a child modelling school.
The 35-year-old, once known for his boyish charm and leading-man roles in local dramas, met the girl at an event in 2024. After exchanging contact information, they continued talking, and in June 2024, almost a month after their first exchange, Fang engaged in nine sexual encounters with the teenager at various locations, including a hotel and a hospital, most of them unprotected, even though he knew she was 15. On one occasion, when the victim was hospitalised for a flu infection, Fang entered her room after midnight when her mother had left and had sex with her there.
The girl later complained of pain around her genital area and was found to have contracted human papillomavirus (HPV). In August 2024, she was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health and diagnosed with adjustment disorder. Fang also faced charges of harassment and obstructing the course of justice for attempting to manipulate the victim into not pressing charges.
Fang's fall has been one of the most shocking celebrity downfalls in Singapore's entertainment history. A breakout star who built a clean-cut image through years of Mediacorp dramas, he became a cautionary tale about power imbalances between adult public figures and minors. The case drew intense public attention to safeguarding practices at child modelling schools and events where adult industry professionals interact with children.
The sentencing in May 2025 placed Fang alongside a string of local public figures convicted of sexual misconduct, including former radio DJ Dee Kosh, who was jailed for 32 weeks in 2022 for offences involving teenage boys, and music producer Ken Lim, sentenced to 13 months' jail for molesting a 25-year-old woman at his office. The string of cases has kept the spotlight on how Singapore's entertainment industry handles misconduct by its stars. Industry insiders say Fang's case was particularly damaging because of the trust placed in him. As an acting coach at a child modelling school, he occupied a position of authority over minors, and the fact that one encounter took place in a hospital room, entered after midnight while the girl's mother was away, underscored the predatory nature of the offences. The victim's contraction of HPV and subsequent admission to the Institute of Mental Health with adjustment disorder were cited as evidence of the lasting harm. Mediacorp, his former employer, moved quickly to distance itself, and his name has become shorthand in local media for the industry's safeguarding failures. Advocates have since pushed for mandatory background checks and codes of conduct for adults working with child performers, arguing that fame and access create risks that the industry has been slow to acknowledge.