SINGAPORE: A man who started searching for sexually explicit material involving children in 2001 was later found with at least 100 of such films in 2023.
The court heard that the longest film had a runtime of 10 hours and three seconds.
On Nov 18, Michael Li Qing’An, 41, was sentenced to two years’ jail and three strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to one count of being in possession of child pornography.
Court documents stated that the Singaporean started downloading adult pornography via peer-to-peer software sharing platforms in 2001.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min said that by using such platforms, users can download files and share their own files with others.
While downloading adult pornography, Li came across some involving children and started searching for them.
He went on to download child pornography and would delete such material after viewing them.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department later acted on some undisclosed information and conducted a check at a certain property on March 22, 2023.
Details about the property have been redacted from court documents.
Child sexual abuse material and adult pornography were found on Li’s desktop computer, and he was arrested soon after.
Defence lawyer Sameer Melber had asked for his client to be given a year and five months’ jail, and two strokes of the cane.
He told the court that Li had acted alone and had committed the offence for his “private gratification”.
Li’s bail was set at $15,000 on Nov 18, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on Dec 2. - The Straits Times/ANN
