SINGAPORE: A man who came across an online group sharing obscene material later sought out more such videos, eventually sharing two clips of child pornography to a WhatsApp chat group.
The crimes were brought to the attention of the Singapore Police Force after the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) flagged them, and 36-year-old Zahidul was sentenced to six months' jail on Thursday (Oct 8).
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Bangladeshi construction worker pleaded guilty to a charge each of transmitting pornographic videos by electronic means and possessing child abuse material. A third charge of possessing 1197 obscene films was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Zahidul had clicked on a Facebook link in 2017 and was taken to a WhatsApp chat group that shared obscene material.
Zahidul became addicted to watching these obscene videos and joined more such groups recommended by the chat group members.
He actively sought obscene videos by joining more and more chat groups on messaging applications like Telegram and Line, some of which featured children in sexual activity.
AdvertisementAdvertisementZahidul "quickly developed a fondness" for child abuse material and became addicted to watching such videos, said the prosecutor.
He began downloading obscene videos of adults and children engaging in sexual acts. On Nov 9, 2017, he shared two videos depicting children in sexual acts with adults to a chat group with 256 members.
On Jun 22 this year, the Singapore police received information from INTERPOL that Zahidul had shared two videos featuring minors in sexual activities with adults on Nov 9, 2017.
The police arrested Zahidul about a week later and seized two phones from him. A total of 1,321 videos were found in the phones, with 1,290 certified obscene.
Eighty-three of these videos depicted child pornography, with children aged between one and 14 featured in the clips.
The prosecutor flagged "the most egregious films", such as a clip of a toddler being sodomised and a girl crying out in pain while being sexually assaulted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sheldon Lim asked for at least a year's jail, saying that Zahidul had actively expanded his collection of child abuse material over at least three years.
"The possession of child abuse material is not a victimless crime," he said.
"To the children who become the subjects of these materials, the videos and photographs are a lasting monument to their loss of innocence. These children not only have to deal with the abuse that they have suffered, they must also live with the knowledge that a permanent record of that abuse lives on, long after the abuse itself has ended."
He flagged aggravating factors such as the substantial number of child pornographic videos and the fact that Zahidul had actively sought out such material.
"The courts must afford the greatest degree of protection to the most vulnerable members of our society – the last, the least, and the littlest," said Mr Lim.
"The sentence to be imposed on the accused must send out a strong, deterrent message that society will not, and cannot, tolerate such wanton abuse of our young, and that any offender who helps perpetuate the cycle of abuse in any way, shape or form, will be met with the strongest disapprobation from our courts."
For transmitting obscene objects by electronic means, Zahidul could have been jailed for up to three months, fined, or both. For possessing child abuse material, he could have been jailed for up to five years and fined or caned.
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