Jail, caning for man who leaked sexual images of ex-girlfriend

The court heard that in 2016, the pair met while attending a religious school and entered into a relationship. She was 15 and he was 17. Prompted by the offender, she sent him photos and at least two videos of her performing sex acts on herself.

More than a year later, the victim broke up with him as she felt he was possessive and toxic. She deleted intimate photos and videos she had of him, and asked that he do the same. He claimed he did but kept them instead.

In April 2021, he messaged the victim to ask if they could get back together even though he was in a relationship with someone else. The victim did not respond and blocked him.

Wanting to humiliate the victim for rejecting him, he posed as her and uploaded her intimate videos on a social media group with almost 80,000 members. This group was part of a platform that had millions of users.

A month later, she received a message on Instagram from an unknown man who saw her nudes and propositioned her. When she asked where he had obtained her nudes, he sent her a link to the group with her intimate videos.

Suspecting that it was the offender who had shared her nudes, she created a fake identity and went undercover to join the group. She was horrified to discover it had many obscene images and videos of various women in religious garb and her images were among these posts.

She made a police report and the offender was arrested.

Seeking a jail term of 30 to 36 months and three strokes of the cane, Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Kee En said almost five years after the crime, the horrific effect of the offender’s deed continues to echo in the victim’s life.

Said the DPP: “It has affected her relationships with her family and friends, her career choices and her romantic relationships.”

The court heard that the victim had previously considered being a religious teacher but decided not to as she was afraid of being shamed should her nudes be discovered by others in the community.

Urging the court to impose a year’s jail with no caning and a compensation order of $500, defence lawyer Sean Marican said his client committed the offence on impulse after being angered by the victim’s rejection.

In his judgment, Principal District Judge Toh Han Li noted how the offender was out to exact revenge on the victim and to harm and humiliate her by depicting her as a promiscuous person in religious garb.

The judge said it was clear her images and videos were still being circulated as she continued to receive propositions close to five years after the offence.

Those convicted of distributing intimate recordings of a victim can be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned, or given any combination of such punishments.