4 men charged over obscene material in Telegram group, including leaked sex videos
Lincoln Anthony Fernandez (left) and Yee Wing Kay outside the State Courts on Jul 28, 2021. (Photo: TODAY)
SINGAPORE: Four men were charged in court on Wednesday (Jul 28) for possessing or transmitting obscene materials through a Telegram chat group.
The group, called "Sam's lots of CB collection", contained leaked sex videos, nude photos of women and exploitative videos circulated without the women's consent.
Wong Ming Jun, 28, was given 11 charges of possessing and transmitting obscene materials, while Tan Yeow Chong, 40, was given seven similar charges.Â
Malaysian national and Singapore permanent resident Yee Wing Kay, 46, received 10 charges and Lincoln Anthony Fernandez, 30, was handed six charges.
Tan is accused of possessing almost 20,000 obscene videos and more than 7,000 obscene images. He also allegedly sent six obscene pictures to the chat group on Nov 4, 2019.
Yee is accused of having 18 obscene videos and 72 obscene pictures in his phone at his Bishan flat. He allegedly sent some to the chat group.
Fernandez is accused of having 118 obscene videos and 406 obscene photos in his phone at his Yishun flat. He also allegedly sent obscene photos to the Telegram chat group.
Wong, the youngest of the four, is accused of possessing more than 2,400 obscene videos and 1,880 obscene images at his Jurong West flat.
The police said in a statement that they had received a report against the Telegram group on Oct 24, 2019.Â
They arrested four men responsible for the upkeep of the channel and the distribution of the obscene contents on Nov 6, 2019.
Subsequent investigations revealed that three of the men are likely administrators of the group, while the fourth advertised the sale of the obscene materials.
Electronic devices were seized from the four men, and obscene materials including thousands of video files and pictures were uncovered via forensic examination and extensive investigations.
The police said they take a very serious view of sexual exploitation of women perpetuated through such illegal chat groups. They advised members of the public not to join such groups and instead to report them to the police.
The case comes after four men were sentenced in court for their involvement in obscene Telegram chat group SG Nasi Lemak.
READ: SG Nasi Lemak Telegram chat group administrator sentenced to mandatory treatment
They were given varying sentences including a mandatory treatment order, nine weeks' jail and a fine and probation.
The penalties for possessing obscene films are a maximum jail term of six months, a fine of up to S$20,000, or both.
For transmitting obscene material, an offender can be jailed up to three months, fined, or both.
The four men charged on Wednesday will return to court at a later date.
