SINGAPORE: The youngest man to be charged over sex-themed Telegram chat group SG Nasi Lemak, which circulated obscene images of women to thousands of members, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Oct 21) to possessing 59 obscene films.
The 18-year-old student cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act, as he was under 18 at the time of the offences.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAnother two charges of sending a photo of two nude women to the chat group and possessing 388 obscene images in his phone for the purpose of transmission will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that the police received 35 reports about SG Nasi Lemak, which contained about 44,000 members, between March and October last year.
They raided the accused's home on Oct 14 last year and found several electronic devices in his possession. He admitted that he was a member of SG Nasi Lemak, where obscene materials were shared among chat group members.
The accused's phone and hard disk drive were seized and examined, and 59 obscene video files were found on the latter.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHe was later charged along with three other men - Justin Lee Han Shi and chat group administrators Leonard Teo Min Xuan and Liong Tianwei.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheng Yuxi on Wednesday said she was not objecting to having a probation suitability report prepared to assess if the accused is suitable for probation.
She said she noted his young age and clean record.
Defence lawyer Muhammad Hasif Abdul Aziz agreed with the calling for a probation report, highlighting that his client was below 18 when he committed the crime.
Advertisement"He's currently still pursuing further studies," said the lawyer, adding that "there's a whole future ahead of him".
He said the predominant sentencing policy should be rehabilitation, adding that his client had "a family support system that's quite suitable for probation".
After the teen was arrested and charged, his mother took "very, very serious actions against him", said Mr Hasif.
He said she "confiscated any form of communications" from her son, and imposed "strict discipline" on him.
Mr Hasif added that his client is pleading guilty early and is "very remorseful".
The accused will return to court for sentencing on Dec 2. For possessing obscene films, he could be jailed for up to six months, fined at least S$500 per film up to a total of S$20,000, or both.
[h=3]READ: Probation for member of SG Nasi Lemak Telegram chat group who possessed 462 obscene films[/h]His co-accused Lee was sentenced last week to a year's probation for possessing obscene films, with two other charges taken into consideration.
The other cases are pending.
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