SINGAPORE — A 23-year-old man pleaded guilty on Monday (Aug 1) to accessing child abuse material through the dark web and downloading multiple photographs of children engaged in sexual activity with adults.
Jerome Lee Qi Long began doing this about two years ago when he was aged 21.
A district judge called for a report to assess his suitability for probation, which is usually offered to first-time offenders aged between 16 and 21.
The prosecution did not object to this but reserved its position on the appropriate sentence pending the report.
Probation does not result in a recorded criminal conviction and allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.
The court heard that Lee began developing a curiosity for child abuse material in 2020. He used his laptop and mobile phone to search for such material online but was unsuccessful, so he turned to the Tor browser to access the dark web.
Between April 2020 and July 2021, he downloaded at least 50 photos depicting child abuse material.
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/probation-report-man-accessed-child-abuse-images-1958271