She's just 19, but this Singaporean teen has already gone through what other women would have in their lifetimes.

Worse, she made the same mistake twice.

The fallout: An abortion at 14, and a child out of wedlock.

On the surface, it seems that Internet chatrooms predators have scalped yet another prey.

But a closer look at Rita's case (we are not identifying her to protect her and her child's identity) it becomes less clear if that was the case.

Rita spoke to The New Paper on Sunday at a coffeeshop in Bedok.

Dressed in a mini tee with a bear cartoon and bermudas, she looked like a typical schoolgirl.

Rita claims she was bored and lonely when she joined some chatrooms when she was 14. At times, she was online for about six hours a day.

There she "met" an 18-year-old boy. Within two weeks, she became pregnant.

Rita told The New Paper on Sunday: "I was so scared, I just didn't know whom to tell."

She finally told her 45-year-old mother - and then only through an SMS.

Her parents, however, didn't react angrily. They decided that abortion was the only way out, she said.

It took place in Johor Baru on a weekend. Rita was subsequently barred from using the home computer, except for doing school projects.

For most, this would have been a bitter lesson of their lives. But not Rita.

A year after her abortion, when her parents were at work, she returned to the chatrooms.

Her reason: She was lonely and was craving for a "mature" relationship.

Why didn't she look for somebody in her circle of friends? They were too immature, she claimed.

She said: "I also wanted someone I could hug, someone to hold my hands... But the boys in my school were too childish."

As expected, there was no shortage of "mature" people who frequented such chatrooms.

A week after she returned to the chatrooms, she fell for Vin, a "mature" man twice her age, who claimed he was a gym-instructor.

Rita claimed she did not lie about her age. When she shared her past experience, he acted the "big brother".

Said Rita: "He seemed understanding and even encouraged me not to let my past affect my future relationship."

He was also the perfect gentleman - he opened doors for her, pulled out the chair and paid for dinner. But it was a mere facade.

In the end, he was only interested in sex, but when she realised that it was too late.

Today, Rita is a single, unwed mother of a 22-month-old baby, whom she says reminds her of her mistake every day.

Said the part-time sales promoter: "I was stupid, stupid, stupid. If I were given one more chance, I know I would never do the same thing again."

Men like Vin abound on Internet chatrooms. Just last month alone, three men were jailed for preying on women online.

Part-time pet sitter Daniel Ou Yang Jian Cong, 25 was sentenced to a total of 72 months on eight charges which included having sex with two underage girls, photographing them in the nude and cheating one of them of $2,000.

Lim Seong Yeong, a 37-year-old building maintenance supervisor, was sentenced to 10 years' jail and and 14 strokes of the cane for attempted rape and grossly outraging the modesty of the Secondary 2 student.

Waiter Mohamad Hanes Borhannudin, 25, was jailed a total of 24 months for having unnatural sex and sex with an underage girl, 15.

Rita said she and Vin had sex nine times at budget hotels just a month after they had "met" online.

Shocking? Not entirely

But some things don't change. When Rita found out that she was pregnant and decided to keep the baby, the man denied he was the father and broke off all contact after that.

She said: "He started avoiding my calls after I told him I was pregnant. That's when I realised he was not serious about me."

Recalling the days before she realised she was pregnant, she said Vin told her that he was going away for a training stint in Taiwan for three weeks and would not be able to call her regularly.

They exchanged SMSes initially, but messages from him became irregular, especially after he claimed he had to extend his stay.

When Rita suspected she was pregnant, she sent him a message and he only replied that her test could be wrong.

It upset her further when he sent her a message asking: "How sure are you that I'm the one?"

More SMS-es from her received no responses from Vin.

Telling her parents about the pregnancy was the toughest, said Rita.

She said: "I didn't want to go through another abortion, and I also felt I had to be responsible for my action. The baby is innocent."

She dropped out of school but she believed no one really knew the reason behind it.

For the rest of her pregnancy, she stayed with her grandmother in Taman Sentosa, Johor Baru.

When she was eight months' pregnant, she returned to Singapore to deliver the baby.

Rita said her case was referred to a medical social worker at the hospital, following which she received counselling.

She said: "I've learnt my lesson - now I don't even use the computer at all."

She is gradually coming to terms with being an unwed mother.

Her advice to the "young girls who may be playing with fire" on the Internet: "They should be warned of the chatroom monsters who disguise themselves as nice men.

"Don't make the same mistake like I did."

Our sex survey of teens show...

The New Paper on Sunday straw poll of 132 teenage girls aged 13 to 16 revealed:

- One in nine teenage girls (15) polled said they would be open to having sex with someone they met online

- One in 10 (13) said they know of friends who have had sex with people from chatrooms

- Half the girls (63) said they have befriended people online.

- Half of these (31) said they took it a step further and met up with these chat-mates in person

Official figures:

- According to the Health Ministry, from 2001 to 2005, there was an average of about 1,500 teen abortions every year. Nearly all the teens who aborted their babies in 2005 were between 15 and 19 years old and unmarried.

- According to a Straits Times report last month, in 2005, 678 teens aged 10 to 19 sought help for sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhoea, genital herpes and warts. That's compared to 256 teens in 2001.

Sex with chat-mates? Yes

If you think that educated school girls should know better than to have a relationship with strangers they meet online, think again.

Said a 15-year-old from a premier all-girls secondary school: "It's an open society that we're living in after all."

Another 14-year-old added: "I wouldn't mind because a night of good wild sex resolves all troubles."

But the vast majority - 117 out of 132 - The New Paper on Sunday polled said they won't do it.

More than one in five, or 30 of the girls said they have been approached for sex online before.

According to the 63 girls who said they have befriended someone in Internet chatrooms before, most of them did so out of boredom, loneliness or to make more friends.

Half of these girls (31) took the next step and met up with their online chat-mates. Most picked public places like Orchard Road, shopping malls, fastfood restaurants and Internet cafes.

Those who met up with the men they befriended online, 12 girls found themselves facing men who were at least five years older.

Said a 13-year-old girl: "He was the absolute pits! I nearly vomited when he tried to hold my hand."

Psychologists and counsellors told The New Paper on Sunday that teenagers who visit chatline websites and end up meeting strangers for sex do so because they want to enjoy the thrill of something that is adult-like.

According to statistics from the Singapore Police Force website, there were five reported rapes and 12 outrage of modesty cases that involved victims who met their rapists via the Internet and chatlines.

This was a drop from 13 rape cases and 14 outrage of modesty cases in 2005.

- Additional reporting by Yvonne Poon, Joan Chew and Janice Tai