Law passed for scammers, mules, to be caned after victims in Singapore lose almost $4b since 2020

The new laws also allow for discretionary caning for other forms of cheating, like traditional fraud.

Other changes include those relating to sexual offences, doxxing of public servants, and punishment for youth offenders.

Ms Sim said that even as caning is introduced for scams, a review found a need to recalibrate caning for other offences.

There are 96 offences that attract discretionary caning and 65 with mandatory caning.

Caning will be removed for eight of them, including for blocking carriages and endangering the safety of passengers under the Railways Act.

Ms Sim said caning is not necessary for some offences, as society and the crime situation has evolved.

“These are generally offences that do not involve intentional harm to a person nor cause significant harm to the public, and for which we assess that the other penalties are adequate,” she said.

“The amendments do not signal any softening in our stance against crime. The large majority of offences which attract caning today, including serious sexual and violence offences, will continue to attract caning as a punishment.”

There will also be harsher penalties for those who circulate obscene material to 10 or more people.

Those who commit such offences can be jailed for up to two years, up from three months.

If the material is of someone under 18, the maximum jail term will be doubled to four years.

Ms Sim cited

, in which over 44,000 members circulated and shared obscene materials involving women and girls in Singapore.

She said: “We cannot begin to imagine the distress suffered by a young girl whose images are sent to thousands of prying eyes.

“And because these materials can be sent to so many people, it is impossible to take them out of circulation entirely. They will always be lurking somewhere, threatening to resurface. These victims may never have peace of mind again.”

To punish those who facilitate such acts, there will be a new offence targeting those who set up or manage online locations where obscene materials are circulated. They include administrators of chat groups or channels, blogs, or accounts on video-sharing platforms.

The abuse of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate obscene images and videos will be addressed.

Ms Sim said the laws already cover sexually explicit deepfakes, which alter existing recordings.

But generative AI now makes it possible to produce synthetic images or videos of a person, without making use of a pre-existing image or recording.

Changes to the law will make it clear that it is an offence to produce any intimate image without consent. This applies for those depicting children, even if a real child is not involved.

To keep in line with the United Nations’ standards, the threshold for obscene materials depicting minors will cover those up to 18 years’ old, up from 16.

Another change relates to sexual grooming offences under the Penal Code.

If the offender and victim meet or plan to meet overseas to engage in an illicit sex act, and either of them has travelled from Singapore, the offender can be liable for sexual grooming.

Maximum jail terms will be increased to seven years’ jail if the victim is under 14.

If the victim is aged 14 to 17, the offender faces a maximum of five years’ jail.

This will only apply to victims aged 16 and 17 if there was an exploitative relationship.

Those who fatally abuse vulnerable victims can be jailed for up to 30 years or for life, up from 20 years’ jail.

Ms Sim said life imprisonment was being introduced as there is strong public interest to deter abuse of vulnerable persons.

She cited the case of a couple who

until the boy died from his injuries in 2016.

In 2022, the mother was convicted of murder, while the father was convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by means of a heated substance. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Ms Sim said although the father’s charge was not for causing death but only endangering life, the Court of Appeal found that life imprisonment was justified and the Government agrees with this.

She said such cases can be prosecuted under the offence of fatal abuse of vulnerable persons.

Doxxing of a public servant when accompanied by a falsehood will also be a criminal offence carrying a maximum jail term of three years and a fine up to $10,000.

For older youth offenders aged 16 and 17, the changes ensure they can be given deterrent sentences such as imprisonment, reformative training and caning when their cases are handled in the State Courts or High Court instead of the Youth Courts.

And regulatory requirements for workers and dealers in precious metals will be updated, increasing the waiting time from three days to five days before these individuals can melt, alter or deface such goods or articles.