SINGAPORE — Construction worker Zahidul came across a Facebook link one day that took him to a chat group on the WhatsApp messaging platform where obscene videos that included sexual acts between adults were shared.

Zahidul, a Bangladeshi who goes by only one name, then became so addicted to watching the videos that he began looking for more of such groups on other social messaging applications such as Telegram and Line, eventually amassing a collection of 1,290 of such videos. 

On Nov 9 in 2017, he also shared two videos, which showed minors engaging in sex with adults, on a WhatsApp group with 256 members. That caught the attention of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), which later informed the Singapore Police Force.

On Thursday (Oct 8), Zahidul, 36, was sentenced to six months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to a charge each of transmitting obscene material over a WhatsApp chat group and for possessing 83 videos containing child abuse. 

A separate count of possessing obscene films was taken into consideration during sentencing. 

Zahidul’s sentence was backdated to July 2, the date of his remand.

TIP-OFF FROM INTERPOL

Court documents showed that the police here received a tip-off from Interpol on June 22 this year that Zahidul had circulated the two child pornographic videos in 2017.

Acting on the lead, they arrested Zahidul at his place of residence on June 30 this year, and seized two mobile phones that belonged to him. The location of where he lived was redacted from the documents.

The phones were examined and found to have contained 1,290 obscene videos, of which 83 depicted child abuse. 

These included children of both genders engaging in sexual activities with adult men and other children. 

The children in the videos ranged from the age of one to 14, with the majority of the videos featuring those who are pre-pubescent.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sheldon Lim, who sought a sentence of at least 12 months’ jail, said that the courts must afford the greatest degree of protection to the most vulnerable members of society.

“The accused did not produce the child abuse material found in his possession. However, by searching for it, viewing it, and downloading it, he was still contributing to the production and proliferation of the material in our society,” he said.  

“The sentence to be imposed on the accused must send out a strong, deterrent message that society will not, and cannot, tolerate such wanton abuse of our young, and that any offender who helps perpetuate the cycle of abuse in any way, shape or form, will be met with the strongest disapprobation from our courts.”

For transmitting obscene material, Zahidul could have been jailed up to three months or fined, or both.

For possessing child abuse material, he could have been jailed up to five years, and fined or caned.