SINGAPORE: He molested an 18-year-old girl in his hostel room on Nanyang Technological University’s campus in 2018, while he was a part-time student.
That same year, he procured an indecent act from another girl, who was aged 13 at the time, by having her pose in lingerie for him in a photoshoot.
On Tuesday (Mar 25), Tnee Chin Kiat, 32, was sentenced to 27 months’ jail and five strokes of the cane, after he pleaded guilty to one count of outrage of modesty, one count of procuring the commission of an indecent act by a child, and one count of possessing child abuse material.
Another three similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
Sometime in 2016 or 2017, Tnee took up photography as a hobby and asked friends and approached strangers to pose as models in his photographs. At the time, he was working as a flight engineer, while studying part-time at NTU.
His photoshoots, which were hosted in his NTU dormitory room, were mostly of females wearing lingerie, bikinis, and see-through swimsuits.
According to court documents, he approached females whom he found attractive and hoped that things would advance sexually between him and each model and that they would engage in sexual acts.
In 2018, he put up an online advertisement on Gumtree seeking “young, skinny, petite” girls to pose for his photographs in exchange for money. An 18-year-old girl – who cannot be named due to a gag order – responded to his advertisement and they met on three occasions over a span of two months.
During the sessions, which lasted about two hours, the victim posed in lingerie provided by Tnee, while he took photographs. He paid her S$200 for each session.
After the first two sessions, Tnee “formed the impression” that he had a romantic connection with her and developed feelings for her.
On the third session, he provided her with several items of lingerie to change into and as the session progressed, he took out some restraints and placed them on her wrists.
He instructed her to pose for several photographs while standing up, before asking her to lie down on the bed and securing her wrists to the bedframe using the restraints. He then molested her twice.
According to court documents, the victim was shocked and afraid, as she was restrained. She told him that she wanted to stop the session and told him that his behaviour was not right, before leaving.
That same year, the accused approached a 13-year-old female – who cannot be named due to a gag order – at an overhead bridge near her house, telling her that he was a freelance photographer.
He asked her to become his model and asked for her handphone number. Not comfortable with giving her number, she gave him her Instagram account username instead.
Tnee messaged the victim on Instagram and repeatedly asked her to become his model, telling her that she would be required to wear lingerie and that she would be paid for her services.
Feeling like she had no choice, she agreed to the photoshoot so that he would leave her alone.
He told her to take a taxi to NTU and subsequently brought her to his hostel room, where he showed her some lingerie and asked her to wear them.
Afraid because she was alone with the accused in the room, she followed his instructions and changed into the lingerie he chose for her.
Tnee then took photographs of the victim in various items of lingerie. Despite the girl telling him that she was uncomfortable, he ignored her and continued to take photos of her.
At the end of the session, he gave her S$80 and she left.
Several days later, he messaged her again to ask her to participate in a second photoshoot. When she ignored him, he continued to send her messages until she finally told him that she would lodge a police report if he continued to contact her.
The court heard that the victim did not lodge a report as she was scared.
Details of his offences only came to light on Sep 13, 2020, after the accused was arrested for approaching an 11-year-old girl to model in an adult photoshoot.
While being interviewed by the police, he disclosed that he had conducted adult photoshoots with other women, leading to the discovery of his other offences.
During police investigations, a total of 1,144 obscene video files were found on various devices seized from Tnee. In addition, 69 videos and 81 images, which were child abuse material, were found in his possession.
SENTENCING
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min sought a sentence of 30-34 months’ imprisonment with four to six strokes of the cane, given the degree of sexual exploitation as well as the need for a sufficiently deterrent sentence against offences related to child sexual abuse material.
During the sentencing, District Judge Eugene Teo turned to Tnee to address him directly.
Noting that Tnee’s father was at the hearing, Judge Teo said: “It’s good that you have people attending your case. You should be grateful for it … You should repay the care that has been shown to you and the concern that others have shown for you.”
Tnee, who was in the dock, nodded in response and said: “Yes, I am, sir.”
“I hope that as you (stand) there, listening to these charges … you are uncomfortable because that indicates that you have some capacity for reform,” said Judge Teo, adding that the offences were serious.
“As you stand there and you hear the outcome of this case now, it is a long sentence undoubtedly … These are serious offences, for which, you have now taken responsibility for and there is this long journey that you are on now … to try and make sure you don’t end up in the same situation again.
“Taking responsibility means taking responsibility for the outcome too.”
