Man, 31, gets 10 months' jail for possessing over 260 obscene images of men, selling them on Twitter
UnsplashSINGAPORE — When a man recorded intimate videos of himself back in 2018, they were meant to be viewed only by someone he had befriended online.
He was shocked when these videos resurfaced two years later as part of a “catalogue” offered for sale by an anonymous user of social media platform Twitter, which has since changed its name to X.
The Twitter postings were spotted by his friend and brought to his attention. The matter was reported to police.
On Friday, Cai Hongliang, the man running the Twitter account, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail after pleading guilty to one count of possessing more than 260 intimate images or recordings of individuals without their consent.
One charge of selling or transmitting these obscene photos and videos was taken into consideration for the sentencing of the 31-year-old Singaporean.
Details such as the name of the Twitter account handle, the names of the victims and the complainant who lodged the police report have been redacted or not stated in court documents.
WHAT HAPPENED
The offence was reported to the police on Aug 15, 2020, by the complainant, who recognised a friend among the images.The complainant told the police that he had received a sales “catalogue” from an anonymous Twitter user, who had sent it to him via a hyperlink on Aug 8 that year.
The catalogue comprised more than 150 folders, with each containing intimate videos or images or an unknown man.
The documents did not mention how the complainant came to be viewing the Twitter account or what led Cai to send him the catalogue.
The complainant told the police that intimate videos of a friend — identified as V1 in the documents — were found in the catalogue.
“He also stated that while more of his friends were featured in the ‘catalogue’, they were all too embarrassed to step forward to the police,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Wong.
V1 told the police that he had self-recorded the said videos around 2018 and sent it to someone he had befriended online, but did not consent to the sale of the media.
The police later identified Cai as the owner of the Twitter account and raided his home on July 8, 2021.
Investigations revealed that Cai would post or repost sexual materials on his Twitter account, and ask anyone interested to send him a private message regarding the sale of individual sets of images or videos.
Cai had created two main folders on a file hosting service named “preview” and “collection”. The former contained screenshots of materials from the “collection” folder.
“The accused has also admitted to offering each folder for sale between S$10 and S$20, and sending his potential buyers an anonymous ‘PayLah’ QR code for online payment to be made,” said the prosecutor.
Forensic examinations by the police found intimate images and videos of local and foreign men who had their faces fully exposed while being nude, showing their genitalia, engaging in sexual acts, or all of the above.
Some of the videos also depict voyeuristic content recorded locally, such as those showing scenes in public toilets or shower areas, said the prosecutor.
In total, police found 275 folders in the “collection” main folder. In the “preview” folder, they found 264 screenshots, with another nine screenshots depicting individuals producing pornographic content on subscription platform OnlyFans, which Cai claimed to have purchased.
As for V1, the identified victim and complainant’s friend, a total of 19 videos and images of him were found in the folders.
“(Cai) was not acquainted with the identified victim and had not received any of the above-mentioned videos and images from the latter on any other occasions,” said DPP Wong.
For possessing intimate images of the victims without consent, Cai could have been jailed for up to two years, fined or both.
For selling or transmitting these materials, he could have been jailed for up to three months, fined or both.
