On Nov 9, the full-time national serviceman (NSF) pleaded guilty to one count each of being in possession of child abuse material, distributing voyeuristic recordings and rioting. — Dreamstime/TNS
SINGAPORE: An 18-year-old youth, who amassed a collection of intimate, voyeuristic and child abuse pictures and recordings, advertised these materials on image-sharing platform Tumblr for sale, earning at least S$1,700 (RM5,701).
Between Dec 8 and Dec 23, 2020, Nigel Kou Kar Chong, who is now 20, intentionally distributed around 2,000 images or recordings of voyeuristic material.
He was also found to be in possession of 650 files of sexually explicit material involving minors.
On Nov 9, the full-time national serviceman (NSF) pleaded guilty to one count each of being in possession of child abuse material, distributing voyeuristic recordings and rioting.
This was not his first brush with the law, as he had previously been ordered to undergo probation in 2018 for earlier offences including assault.
For his current cases, Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Ee Wei said that in March 2020, Kou amassed the obscene materials and stored them on an online portal.
She added: “He collected such media through buying them from (other) Tumblr users or trading collections... He would advertise obscene material on his Tumblr account.
“When users approached him to buy the material, he would ask what kind of obscene videos they wanted and would quote them a price. Once the customer paid him, he would send them a link generated from (the online portal).”
On Oct 11, 2020, a woman made a police report, stating that lewd pictures had been posted on Tumblr.
There was also a screenshot of a video, showing a girl performing a sexual act, and the clip was for sale for S$60 (RM201).
Police later screened Kou’s Tumblr account and identified him as one of the persons selling intimate media online.
In an unrelated incident, he was also involved in a brawl outside Textile Centre shopping mall in Jalan Sultan near Beach Road on Dec 6, 2020.
Kou is represented by lawyers Joshua Tan and Marshall Lim from Martin & Partners law firm.
Stressing that the NSF is a young offender, Tan told the court that their client is extremely remorseful and deeply regrets his actions.
On Wednesday, District Judge Kessler Soh called for reports to assess Kou’s suitability for both probation and reformative training.
Offenders given reformative training will be detained in a centre to follow a regimen that can include counselling and foot drills.
Kou is expected to be sentenced on Jan 11, 2023. – The Straits Times (Singapore)/Asia News Network
