Image from the Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A married man who went online and specifically searched for sexually explicit material involving children was later found with 304 videos of such content.
On Nov 4, Mohamad Fadli Kamaral Jaman, 36, was sentenced to two years and a month in jail, and four strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to one count of being in possession of child abuse material.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Benjamin Low told the court that in 2022, Fadli was browsing pornographic websites when he encountered a video of a child engaging in sexual activities with an adult.
Soon after, he used a file sharing programme to search “pre-teen” material and downloaded them onto a hard disk for his own viewing.
Without revealing details, the prosecutor said that police officers from the Specialised Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department later received information about Fadli’s offence, and they raided his home on Feb 20, 2023.
DPP Low added: “The accused was subsequently contacted by his wife... who informed him that there were police officers at their residence and requested for the accused to return home urgently.”
He reached home and was arrested after he admitted to the officers that he had downloaded the sexually explicit material involving children.
His computer and hard disk were later found to contain 304 videos showing such content.
Fadli was represented by lawyers Amarick Gill and S. Ramanujen who stated in court documents that he has a 10-year-old son.
They pleaded for their client to be given two years’ jail and four strokes of the cane.
Stressing that he is remorseful, the lawyers from Amarick Gill law firm said: “He did not share, distribute, disseminate or sell the videos for any monetary benefit. Fadli is most ashamed for having brought this upon himself.”
Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said in September that since 2020, there had been about 140 police investigations into cases involving child sexual abuse material.
The offence of possessing such material came into force in January 2020. Offenders face a mandatory jail term of up to five years, and can also be fined or caned.
According to figures provided by the Singapore judiciary, the number of cases has been climbing since 2020. There was one case that year, but none in 2021.
It jumped to five cases in 2022, then seven in 2023. - The Straits Times/ANN
