SINGAPORE – A full-time National Serviceman (NSF) was on Thursday (June 4) given a community-based sentence for uploading explicit videos and photographs of his ex-girlfriend onto a pornographic website and an online forum.

The 21-year-old will have to serve a 14-day short detention order, which puts him in prison for a short time but does not leave a criminal record upon release.

He will also have to go to a day-reporting centre for monitoring and counselling, undergo a rehabilitation programme, as well as serve 100 hours of community service.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his 20-year-old victim, had pleaded guilty to four charges of distributing obscene material.

Eight other similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that the man and the victim got to know each other in 2008 when they were both in Primary 4.

They got into a relationship when they entered Secondary 1, and broke up sometime in 2014 when they were in Sec 4.

During their relationship, the victim had sent her boyfriend several explicit videos and photographs of herself in which her face was clearly seen.

These videos were saved in a hard disk, but the victim was unaware of this.

In 2016, she got into a new relationship and this angered her ex-boyfriend.

He created a profile on a free pornographic website and an internet forum in October 2018 using the girl’s photograph, and uploaded the videos and photographs onto both platforms.

Over the course of the next three months, the man had amassed a following of over 200 subscribers on the pornographic website.

It was not stated how the man was eventually caught by the police.

The man’s lawyer, Mr Terrance Goh, argued in the State Courts that it was not a case of “revenge porn” as the act was committed two years after the victim had got into a relationship.

Instead, he said his client was suffering from depression at the point the offences occurred, and it was his way to “alleviate his mood” as he found affirmation and support from “fans” of the explicit content.

But District Judge May Mesenas said that even if that were so, what the man did was still not right.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Melina Chew pointed out that the man’s depression did not affect his performance during National Service, and he had even been commended by his superiors.

The prosecutor said that even if the court were to accept that the man exhibited symptoms of depression at the time, there was nothing to suggest that he was suffering from depression “that was so bad that it would affect his daily functioning”.

DPP Chew said that the victim had suffered from stress, shame and reputational damage as the content had received thousands of views before they were removed.

However, she added that the interest of justice requires a sentence that allows the man the opportunity to rehabilitate and address his offending behaviour, while condemning the severity of his actions.

Anyone found guilty of distributing obscene material could be jailed for up to three months or fined, or both.