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Jail for man who lured around 50 women, teens for photo shoots and filmed intimate videos of them
Min Thein Kyaw committed the offences from 2011 to 2020.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Shaffiq Alkhatib
UPDATED JAN 17, 2025, 07:47 PM
SINGAPORE – A man who lured around 50 women and teenage girls for photo shoots after promising to pay them went on to record intimate videos of the victims.
Some of the videos, which included those showing sexual acts, were taken without the victims’ consent.
Min Thein Kyaw, who was working for a software firm at the time of the offences and was not a professional photographer, committed them from 2011 to 2020.
The victims were then between 15 and 25 years old. Separately, he also sent sexual text messages to a 12-year-old girl despite knowing that she was a primary school pupil at the time.
On Jan 17, the 46-year-old Singaporean, who is a married man, was sentenced to four years, three months and 14 weeks’ jail.
Min, who pleaded guilty to 19 charges for offences that include insulting a woman’s modesty and making obscene films, was also ordered to receive two strokes of the cane.
Fifty-six other charges were considered during his sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng told the court that Min began photographing female models in either 2009 or 2010.
He posted advertisements on online platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, looking for models for photo shoots.
He would also occasionally contact women and teenage girls via these platforms to ask if they were interested in being photographed. He told some of them that they would take part in lingerie photo shoots.
Once a woman or teenager accepted his offer, Min would arrange to secure a location for such sessions. The places included his home and a studio he rented in Serangoon Road.
Min then took advantage of his victims’ naivety to slowly push the boundaries of their photo shoot agreements.
He used a camera that could take both photos and videos. He also had his mobile phone with him during the sessions.
During some of these sessions, he would touch the models’ bodies, including their private parts, purportedly as part of the session. He even sexually penetrated some of the victims.
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Min took intimate videos, some of them without consent, of the victims, one of whom was just 16 years old.
The girl had joined a Facebook group for freelance photographers and models some time in 2015, and put up a post stating that she was looking for a photographer to take her pictures for a portfolio.
Min messaged her on Dec 5 that year, and they went to a rented studio for a photo shoot.
She undressed at his request, and Min then blindfolded the teenager before engaging in sexual acts with her.
He used his mobile phone to record 12 videos of the encounter.
DPP Heng said: “Her face was visible in most of the videos, although the blindfold partially obscured part of her face. The accused did not ask (her) permission before recording videos.”
The victim, who is now 25, was unaware that Min was filming her. He later paid her around $250 for the photo shoot.
Another victim was 15 years old when she agreed to do a photo shoot with him in 2016.
On Nov 2 that year, the secondary school student wore her class T-shirt and school skirt to the session held at a multi-storey carpark near Kallang MRT station.
DPP Heng said the victim, now 23, was aware that it was going to be a “sexy” photo shoot.
During the session, she stripped from the waist downwards and Min performed an obscene act on her.
He made two obscene films of the minor before paying her an undisclosed amount of money.
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Separately, Min also sent a 12-year-old sexual text messages in July 2020.
He committed this offence after the girl, who is now 16, accepted his request to follow her on Instagram.
One of Min’s many victims eventually alerted the police about him on Aug 12, 2020.
He was arrested the next day and the authorities seized his electronic devices, including two hard disk drives, on which were found nearly 800 obscene films.
On Jan 17, defence lawyer Johannes Hadi asked for Min to be given two years, eight months and 14 weeks’ jail, and two strokes of the cane.
He told the court that his client is remorseful and sorry for what he had done.
