Former Singaporean Primary School Teacher Jailed For Possessing Child Porn
Teachers are among some of the most trusted figures in our society. Hence, it’s especially concerning whenever we hear of educators indulging in unscrupulous activities.
A former primary school teacher was recently sentenced to two weeks jail for possessing over 7,000 obscene videos.
Source: Thom on Unsplash. Image used for illustration purposes only.
Among them, 131 reportedly contained child pornographic content.
He was sentenced to two weeks’ jail on Friday (9 Dec) and has since resigned from his job.
Former Singaporean primary school teacher first received child porn in 2016
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Loh started consuming pornography in 2011 or 2012 whilst employed as a primary school teacher.
In 2016, he stumbled upon a comment on the social networking website Tumblr that promised anyone who downloaded the Kik mobile messaging app that they would share pornographic content with them.
Loh then registered for an account and added the user. He received numerous files and videos in exchange.
Even though Loh did not deliberately look for child porn, he did receive and send such material.
This continued till Dec 2018, when he was unable to log in to his Kik account because of a suspension.
He then deleted the app but kept the downloaded material on his personal devices.
Police raid former teacher’s home after Interpol tip-off
In Apr 2019, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) received information from Interpol that a Singaporean IP address was linked to the transmission of child abuse material.
The police then got into action and raided Loh’s home in Tampines.
They seized his electronic and storage devices, discovering 7,786 obscene files. Of that, 131 included child porn.
Loh only resigned in Jul 2021, two years after the SPF tip-off.
Former primary school teacher jailed for 2 weeks
In court, the prosecution brought up the fact that Loh was a teacher throughout the duration of the offences.
During a meeting with a psychiatrist in 2017, Loh admitted to watching more porn involving teenage females around 2017.
According to TODAY Online, Loh pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing the videos. Another charge relating to the distribution of obscene videos was considered for his sentencing.
In the end, he was sentenced to two weeks’ jail.
For the offence of possessing obscene films, Loh could have been jailed for up to 12 months, fined up to S$40,000, or both.
Meanwhile, the offence of circulating obscene materials comes with a jail term of up to three months, a fine, or both.
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Featured image adapted from MS News.
