13 weeks’ jail for man who threatened to publish nude photo of ex-lover
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — When a 67-year-old Singaporean woman ended her two-year relationship with a freelance masseur she met on a now-defunct sexual services website, he threatened to publish a nude photo and compromising video clips of her unless she paid him S$100,000.
For this, Hong Kong national Calvin Mok Wai Lun, 41, was sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail, after he pleaded guilty to sending the woman a series of messages containing the photograph with the intent to cause her distress — the first case of transnational criminal prosecution under the Protection from Harassment Act. The court heard yesterday that the two of them first met in 2013. The victim was holidaying in Hong Kong and contacted Mok to “engage his services” after she found his profile on rentboy.com.
They had a sexual encounter on their first meeting and developed a relationship thereafter, often communicating with each other through the WhatsApp messaging service.
Between 2013 and this year, the victim also covered their expenses when Mok accompanied her on her holidays around South-east Asia. She also gave him money or a “rental fee”, as she knew that he was in financial difficulties, while they continued to engage in a sexual relationship.
But in July, the victim ended the relationship and told Mok she would not be giving him more money. Mok then demanded a payment of S$100,000 to end the relationship.
While in Hong Kong on Aug 20, Mok sent a series of messages via the WhatsApp to the victim, including a nude photo of her, and threatened to disseminate the photo to people she knows. He threatened to do the same with “humiliating video clips” of the victim. Mok also sent voice clips in these messages in which he threatened to ruin her career and destroy her reputation. He would only refrain from doing so if she agreed to pay up, the court heard.
Investigations later revealed that the photo and compromising video clips were taken without the victim’s knowledge while they were on holiday.
The victim was in Singapore when she received these messages, and she lodged a police report on Aug 26.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sheryl Janet George today (Nov 6) said the victim managed to reduce the amount to S$60,000 after negotiation. She also convinced Mok to make a trip to Singapore to collect the money. He was arrested by the police when he arrived on Sept 3.
Mok, who was represented by lawyer Troy Yeo, said this was a sobering lesson for his client who had committed the offence out of desperation, as he was in financial debt.
Meting out the sentence, District Judge Soh Tze Bian said the offence was clearly planned and and Mok’s actions were “calculated and deliberate”.
Noting the global increase in instances where WhatsApp is used as a tool to perpetuate offences, DJ Soh added: “The offence was a faceless threat and the ease with which the offence could be committed and the real unlikelihood of detection … would no doubt have contributed to the (accused person’s) motivation to persistently threaten the victim through a series of messages.”
Under the Act, Mok could have been jailed up to six months or fined up to S$5,000, or punished with both.
