SINGAPORE: A man suspected of being the administrator of an obscene Telegram chat group faces a fresh charge of possessing pornographic material.
Leonard Teo Min Xuan, 26, was charged on Tuesday (Oct 22) with possessing obscene objects in the form of pornographic material in his electronic devices at his Pasir Ris home on Oct 14.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHe had been charged last week with transmitting pornographic material through the chat group, which was named SG Nasi Lemak.
The chat group, which is believed to have had up to 44,000 members at one point, included obscene photos and videos of women and came to public attention after some women realised their photos were there.
Teo's lawyer Ashwin Ganapathy on Tuesday raised a concern about his period of remand, noting that the maximum jail term for the fresh charge is just three months while he has already been remanded for a week.
However, District Judge Adam Nakhoda said the past week of remand was for psychiatric observation.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Institute of Mental Health will not be able to complete their investigation, said the judge, ordering another two weeks of remand for psychiatric observation.
He rejected the defence counsel's request for Teo to speak to his brother, saying any message could be passed to him.
Teo will return to court on Nov 5.
He had been arrested along with three others in various locations last Monday after police received several reports against the chat group between March and October this year.
The other three accused in the case are: Abdillah Sabaruddin, 17, Justin Lee Han Shi, 19, and Liong Tianwei, 37.
According to the police, Teo and Liong are suspected to be the administrators behind the chat group, which is no longer accessible.
Liong was also charged with three more counts of transmitting obscene objects and was further remanded for investigations.
The penalties for transmitting or possessing obscene objects are jail term of up to three months, a fine, or both.
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