S’porean man, 23, downloaded over 500 child abuse files, gets jail & caning

A 23-year-old Singaporean man, who amassed more than 500 files containing child abuse material across several years, has been sentenced to one year and nine months’ jail and one stroke of the cane.

George Lee Ji Qiang pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing child abuse material.

Another similar charge was taken into consideration during sentencing.

The case involved over 400 images and 100 videos, some depicting very young victims.

The deputy public prosecutor (DPP) said there were at least 117 children shown in the videos alone, with 112 victims’ faces clearly visible and identifiable.

Some of the material depicted children who appeared to be under 10 years old, according to court documents.

Interest began after stumbling across online post

Investigations showed Lee first encountered such material three to four years before his arrest in 2024, after clicking on a link from an online post featuring children in swimwear.

He later joined online forums and Telegram groups where users exchanged links and discussed ways to access such material.

According to court documents, Lee learnt how to obtain files from encrypted sources, file-hosting platforms and the dark web.

He used tools, such as the Tor browser and torrent software, to download them anonymously.

He also searched for material using keywords, such as “little boy” and “little girl” in English and Mandarin.

Police later seized his iPhone, laptop, thumb drive and cloud accounts, which contained a total of 548 files.

Police raid in 2024 led to arrest

Lee was arrested on Mar. 5, 2024, after officers from the Criminal Investigation Department raided his home.

He admitted during questioning that he had downloaded the material.

Investigations also revealed he stored the files across multiple platforms, including Telegram and a MEGA cloud storage account.

Offending lasted years, prosecution said

The prosecution argued that Lee’s conduct took place over a sustained period of time, showing he was able to continue downloading such material even while studying at polytechnic.

The DPP told the court the pattern of behaviour demonstrated that Lee could “compartmentalise the different spheres of his life while he was committing the offences”, as reported by The Straits Times (ST).

In sentencing submissions, the prosecution said Lee had used “a broad variety of methods” and anonymous tools to obtain the material over several years.

They added that deterrence is a key sentencing principle in such cases because consumers of such material help sustain the broader ecosystem of abuse.

Prosecutors cited a High Court observation that “if not for the consumers, there would be no market for those who abuse children by creating this material”.

Appeal for probation rejected

During mitigation, Lee said he had struggled with low self-confidence after being bullied in primary school and asked the court to consider probation instead of jail, according to ST.

However, the prosecution argued that there was insufficient evidence of active steps showing genuine reform.

They also said the seriousness of the offence meant deterrence should remain the priority in sentencing adult offenders.

Additional obscene films found

Separately, investigations uncovered 55 obscene films on Lee’s phone.

While these were not classified as child abuse material, prosecutors said they pointed to “a disturbing proclivity... to amass and accumulate sexual material for his own self-gratification.”

Lee was ultimately sentenced to 21 months’ jail and one stroke of the cane on Apr. 28.