S'pore man, 26, sells 1,149 obscene videos on Tumblr for S$13,690, gets 8 weeks' jail

A 26-year-old Singaporean man has been sentenced to eight weeks' jail for selling 1,149 obscene video files featuring females for S$13,690.

The man, Gregory Seow Rui Jie, gained access to the video files after coming across a post with hashtags like "sgbabes" on microblogging site, Tumblr.

Seow paid S$50 for the 26,864 videos and 128,308 images, totalling 1.2 terabytes in size.

Came across censored images on Tumblr

According to court documents, Seow was browsing Tumblr around January 2023 and came across censored nudes of females.

The user who made the post invited users who wanted more information to send direct messages.

The post contained various hashtags, including "xmm", "sgxmm", "gals" and "sgbabes".

Seow did so and was asked to create an account on MEGA, a file hosting and storage service platform.

After he created his account, Seow was given a link that led to a file containing the female nude images.

Bought entire folder for S$50

Contemplating selling the explicit videos and images to earn some money, Seow told the user that he wanted to purchase the rest of the material, if there were more.

He paid S$50 via PayLah! and received a link to a folder named "SG Galore".

Inside were numerous sub-folders containing sexual videos and images, with titles reflecting the nature of the materials in them, such as "2023", "2022" and "voyeur delights".

Investigations revealed that "SG Galore" contained 26,864 videos and 128,308 images, amounting to 1.2 terabytes of media files.

Seow downloaded the folder onto his personal MEGA account as well as his laptop.

He also downloaded some of the sexual material onto his phone.

Started reselling on Tumblr, charged up to S$200

In November 2023, Seow created some Tumblr accounts and advertised the sale of the material.

He posted some of them with hashtags like "xmm", "sgbabe" and "sggals".

Various Tumblr users then sent direct messages to Seow expressing interest in purchasing the material.

Seow would then continue the conversation on Tumblr or Telegram, replying with a template message.

This template message advertised the "SG Galore" folder as well as its sub-folders, and contained a preview of some of the images from these sub-folders.

Once a prospective customer confirmed they wanted to buy the material, Seow would send them a PayLah! QR code.

Seow initially charged S$50, but eventually started charging S$100 and then S$200.

On 180 separate occasions between Nov. 15, 2023 and May 3, 2024, Seow sold a total of 1,149 obscene films to various customers and received S$13,690 in total.

Police report

On Aug. 7, 2024, police acted on a report lodged on Aug. 5 and visited Seow's flat, seizing his phone and laptop.

He was also placed under arrest, although he was later released on bail.

An Infocomm Media Development Authority report found 1,149 obscene video files on Seow's hard disk.

Eight weeks' jail

Seow was charged with one count of selling obscene films.

He pleaded guilty, CNA reported.

The Public Prosecutor sought eight to 10 weeks' imprisonment.

Seow was given eight weeks' jail.

His account has been frozen, and Seow did not object to the S$13,690 proceeds being forfeited to the state.

For selling obscene films, Seow could have been imprisoned for up to three months, fined, or both.

He also faced double the penalties as the charge contained multiple instances of the offence.

Top image via Canva