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SINGAPORE: A man who came across an online group sharing obscene material then searched for more such videos, eventually sharing two clips of child pornography in a WhatsApp chat group.
The crimes were brought to the attention of the Singapore Police after being pointed out by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and Zahidul, 36, was sentenced to six months in jail on Thursday (October 8).
The Bangladeshi construction worker pleaded guilty to charges of transmitting pornographic videos by electronic means and possession of child abuse material. A third count of possession of 1,197 obscene films was considered.
The court heard that Zahidul had clicked on a Facebook link in 2017 and was taken to a WhatsApp chat group that shared obscene material.
Zahidul got addicted to watching these raunchy videos and joined more groups recommended by members of the chat group.
He actively searched for obscene videos by joining more and more chat groups on messaging apps like Telegram and Line, some of which featured children in sexual activities.
Zahidul “quickly developed a fondness” for the child abuse material and became addicted to watching those videos, the prosecutor said.
He started downloading obscene videos of adults and children involved in sexual acts. On November 9, 2017, he shared two videos showing children engaging in sexual acts with adults in a 256-member chat group.
On June 22 this year, the Singapore police received information from INTERPOL that Zahidul had shared two videos of minors engaging in sexual activities with adults on November 9, 2017.
The police arrested Zahidul a week later and confiscated two phones from him. A total of 1,321 videos were found on the phones, with 1,290 certified as obscene.
Eighty-three of these videos featured child pornography, with children between the ages of one and 14 in the clips.
The prosecutor pointed to “the most egregious films,” such as a clip of a young boy being sodomized and a girl screaming in pain as she was sexually assaulted.
Assistant District Attorney Sheldon Lim asked for at least one year in jail and said Zahidul had been actively expanding his collection of child abuse material for at least three years.
“Possession of child abuse material is not a victimless crime,” he said.
“For the children who become the subjects of these materials, the videos and photographs are a lasting monument to their loss of innocence. These children not only have to deal with the abuse they have suffered, they must also live with the knowledge that a The permanent record of that abuse lives on, long after the abuse itself has ended. “
He pointed to aggravating factors such as the considerable number of child pornographic videos and the fact that Zahidul had actively searched for such material.
“Courts must provide the highest degree of protection to the most vulnerable members of our society: the last, the smallest and the smallest,” Lim said.
“The sentence imposed on the accused must send a strong and dissuasive message that society will not and cannot tolerate such rampant abuse of our youth, and that any offender who helps perpetuate the cycle of abuse in any shape, form or form, it will meet with the strongest disapproval of our courts. “
For transmitting obscene objects by electronic means, Zahidul could have been jailed for up to three months, fined, or both. For possessing child abuse material, you could have been imprisoned for up to five years and fined or punished.
