The youngest of four men in court over the SG Nasi Lemak Telegram nudes channel was today given a year of probation and ordered to attend classes on sexual health and conduct.
The 18-year-old was the second person to be sentenced in the case over a month after his associate, 20-year-old Justin Lee Han Shi, was also given probation, a punishment which drew criticism as too lenient. The court has yet to complete the trials of the most serious offenders, channel admins Leonard Teo Min Xuan, 27, and Liong Tianwei, 38.
The unidentified teenager was 17 and therefore a minor when he committed the offense. He was also ordered to perform 40 hours of community service and placed under a S$5,000 (US$3,700) bond to ensure good behavior. His sentencing came just over a year after the police raided his home after 35 complaints were filed against the now-defunct, invite-only channel which had more than 40,000 members who reportedly paid S$30 to join.
The teenager was convicted of possessing obscene films. A charge of sending nude photos to the Telegram channel was taken into consideration in his sentencing. The teenager was found with more than 400 pornographic videos and photos on his phone.
Although the channel was used to trade personal photos and videos of unsuspecting women, Singapore has no so-called revenge porn law. The defendants were tried on charges related to possession and distribution of porn, which remains a crime in Singapore.
Lee, who was convicted of possessing and distributing more than 1,000 videos and photos of women through the channel, also got 40 hours of community service.
For possessing the materials, each defendant could have been jailed for up to six months and fined at least S$500 per film, capped at S$20,000.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Singapore has no revenge porn law. In fact, one was codified last year but not used in this case.
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