2 weeks’ jail for man who showed female colleague obscene video and picture

SINGAPORE — While chatting away with his 25-year-old colleague, Harris Carter Chai decided to take out his phone and show her an explicit video.

The 41-year-old married man then claimed that the man having sex with a woman in the video was himself and his ex-girlfriend. He also told his colleague that he was “power”, alluding to his sexual skills.

On Wednesday (Sept 11), the Malaysian was sentenced to two weeks’ jail for his actions.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of exhibiting an object intended to insult a woman’s modesty, along with a second charge under the Films Act of possessing 48 obscene films in his mobile phone.

He told the court in mitigation, through a Chinese interpreter, that “it did not cross my mind that this would be so serious”.

“This is my first offence. I didn't mean to do it to my colleague and we were always joking with each other… Because of this, I lost my job and I’m working as a driver with no steady income now. I need to support my family,” he said, pleading for a fine.

However, the judge said that a custodial sentence was needed in this case.

“You may have thought it was not so serious but this was not a laughing matter,” she added.

Chai will begin serving his sentence on Sept 18 and remains out on a S$5,000 bail.

The court heard that Chai was not his victim’s direct supervisor at work, but was her superior by rank.

She cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity. Their workplace and occupations were also redacted from court documents.

Occasionally, the woman would approach Chai for help in administrative and pay-related matters. They would also have casual conversations about their personal lives.

DESCRIBED PENIS TO HER

On Jan 29 this year, he asked to speak to her and they went to the loading and unloading area of their workplace to talk.

During their conversation, he took out his mobile phone and showed her the obscene video. He also began to describe his penis to her, even showing her a photograph of one that he claimed was his sexual organ.

This caught her by surprise and made her feel uneasy. She told him that she had to go back to her work duties and left.

About a week later on Feb 7, she filed a police report against Chai.

She took some time because she did not know what to do and was consulting some other people, who advised her to make a police report.

The next day, police officers seized Chai’s mobile phone and found that it stored 47 obscene videos.

Chai said that all but one — the video he had shown his colleague — were either downloaded from the Internet or from WhatsApp.

For possessing obscene videos, he could have been jailed up to a year, or fined up to S$40,000, or both.

A similar punishment applies to using any word or gesture intended to insult a woman’s modesty.