A former teacher in Singapore has been sentenced to 13 months in jail for downloading child pornography on multiple electronic devices.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the offender, 40-year-old Singaporean Eugene Quake, began using the messaging app Telegram in 2020, where he discovered chat groups sharing homosexual pornography.
Source: khunkorn on Canva, for illustration purposes only
Quake joined these groups due to his interest in such content, but he later encountered instances where other members shared child abuse material.
He admitted to having watched videos in these groups that depicted adults sexually abusing babies.
Additionally, Quake searched for pornography online using terms such as “boys”.
He had also enabled Telegram’s “auto download” feature, which automatically saved the videos to his phone after viewing them.
CNA reported that the police raided Quake’s condominium unit on 15 March 2023 after receiving a tip-off.
They arrested him and seized two mobile phones, a laptop, and a portable drive.
Quake provided the passcode to one of the phones.
Since the hard drive was not encrypted, the police discovered 10 images containing child abuse material.
Court documents revealed that some of the boys in the images appeared to be under the age of 10.
Quake admitted to using his second phone and laptop as primary sources for viewing pornography.
The police sought to examine these devices, suspecting they contained additional child abuse material.
However, Quake withheld the passcodes for these devices.
This occurred even though he received a notice to assist with the investigation and was warned of potential legal consequences for non-compliance.
As a result, the police were unable to access the contents of the two devices.
In court, the prosecution requested a sentence of between 14 and 18 months’ imprisonment for Quake.
They highlighted the severity of his offences, which involved “incredibly depraved content, including videos of adults raping babies and infants”.
Quake appeared visibly embarrassed during the proceedings and expressed a desire to “move on with whatever sentence” the court imposed.
He argued that his actions should be considered as involving “low harm and low culpability”.
Quake claimed he had forgotten the passcode to his second phone and feared it would be locked if he attempted to enter the wrong codes.
He also stated that he refused to provide the password to his laptop because it contained “sensitive” information related to his partner, whom he wished to protect from involvement in the case.
The judge ultimately sentenced Quake to 13 months in prison, emphasising that the sentence was necessary to convey a clear and stern message against the possession of child sexual materials.
CNA noted that Quake was suspended from his teaching position in March 2023 and is no longer employed at any school.
Also read: Man suspected of abducting girl in JB rearrested after child porn found at home
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Featured image adapted from Sora Shimazaki on Canva, for illustration purposes only.
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