4 men charged with possessing, sharing leaked sexual videos, images of women in Telegram group

• Four men were allegedly part of a sex-themed chat group on Telegram
• The police received a report in October 2019 and arrested them about two weeks later
• One of them allegedly advertised the sale of obscene material, while three were administrators
• One of the men who was charged had more than 25,000 obscene videos and photos in his devices

SINGAPORE — Four men aged between 28 and 46 were on Wednesday (July 28) hauled to court and charged over their alleged roles in a sex-themed chat group on messaging application Telegram.

They were each charged with multiple counts of possessing obscene films and transmitting obscene materials through the group, the police said in a statement on Wednesday.

The material contained leaked sexual videos and images of women, including nude photos, those of women dressed scantily or in compromising positions, and videos of sexual acts that were exploitative of the women because they circulated the materials in the group without their consent, the police added.

On Oct 24, 2019, the authorities received a report against the group and arrested the four men on Nov 6 that year.

Three of them were allegedly administrators of the group, the police added, while the fourth purportedly advertised the sale of obscene materials.

Thousands of video files and pictures were found in their electronic devices.

After extensive investigations into the materials, the police consulted the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on the matter. 

AGC concurred in mid-July this year to charge the men. All but one of them are Singaporeans. 

They are: 

Wong Ming Jun, 28

Wong faces the highest number of charges, including five of possessing obscene videos under the Films Act. 

Based on court documents, the Singaporean had more than 2,300 videos in a Lenovo laptop, two thumb drives, a Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact mobile phone and a Secure Digital memory card.

He also faces six charges of storing more than 1,600 obscene pictures in his electronic devices.

Tan Yeow Chong, 40

Tan, a Singaporean, allegedly transmitted six obscene photos through the Telegram group two days before being arrested.

He is said to have had more than 7,000 photos and more than 19,000 of such videos in his electronic devices, including hard disks and a Huawei mobile phone.

He faces seven charges.

Lincoln Anthony Fernandez, 30

Fernandez allegedly possessed 406 obscene photos and 118 video files in his Oppo mobile phone and sent seven photos through the group. 

The Singaporean faces six charges.

Yee Wing Kay, 46

Yee, a permanent resident from Malaysia, is accused of having 18 obscene videos and more than 70 photos in his electronic devices, including a hard drive and Samsung Galaxy mobile phones. 

He also purportedly sent a photo and four obscene videos in the group. 

He was handed 10 charges.

All four men did not enter pleas and will return to court on Aug 25. 

They each remain out on S$5,000 bail.

If convicted of possessing obscene films, they could receive a jail term of up to six months or a fine of up to S$20,000, or both, for each charge.

Those convicted of transmitting obscene materials could be jailed for up to three months or fined, or given both penalties.

DO NOT JOIN ILLEGAL CHAT GROUPS

The police said that they take a very serious view of sexual exploitation of women perpetuated through illegal chat groups and will take tough enforcement action. 

"Members of the public are advised not to join illegal chat groups circulating obscene materials and to report them to the police,” they added.

In a similar case, an administrator of the “SG Nasi Lemak” Telegram chat group was jailed and fined. 

Another administrator was given a mandatory treatment order, which directs offenders suffering from certain treatable psychiatric conditions to undergo treatment with a court-appointed psychiatrist.

Two others were given probation for distributing obscene material in the group, which is no longer accessible but had more than 44,000 members when it was active.