Father jailed for downloading child sexual abuse material

SINGAPORE — A father of two young children had amassed more than tens of thousands of videos and images showing children being sexually abused when he was arrested.

Wong Ket Kok, 54, searched for and downloaded child porn every day for five years, involving material of children as young as two years old being sexually abused in depraved acts.

On Thursday (3 March), Wong was jailed for two years and eight months after he pleaded guilty to possessing at least 46,946 files containing images and videos of child abuse. Another charge of possessing 53,123 obscene films were considered for his sentencing.

Wong was a sole proprietor of a renovation business. He is married with a daughter, 17, and a son, 11.

For more than five years before he was arrested on 29 July 2020, he began downloading child abuse material daily using a file sharing software.

Wong claimed he did not have any age preference and did not “watch” children who were younger than four.

On 29 July 2020, police officers acted on information that Wong had downloaded child abuse material. They conducted a raid of his house and found the files in his laptop.

Investigations later revealed 164,666 files comprising adult and child pornography on his laptop and 24 hard disks. Many of the obscene material featured pre-pubescent girls and were violent in nature.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia submitted to the court a list of 22 file names and description, which showed the degree of “depravity” in the videos.

“Some of these videos involved acts that can only be described as torture; and the children abused in the material are as young as two years old,” he said.

“In this regard, we point out to the court that his persistent enjoyment of watching young children abused began when his own children were themselves 12 and six years old respectively, at the most. This only adds to the depravity of his offending behaviour.”

DPP Ngia sought a jail term of between two-and-a-half and three years as the offence was not a “victimless” crime.

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“These children not only have to deal with the abuse that they have suffered, they must also live with the knowledge that a permanent record of that abuse remains in circulation on the internet, for the sexual pleasure of others like the accused. Ardent consumers like the accused drive the supply of these perverse material,” DPP Ngia said.

Describing Wong’s culpability as “high”, the DPP cited factors such as the “staggering number” of files he had possessed, and his “deep commitment to expanding his collection of child abuse material”.

The offence called for a stiff deterrent sentence given the prevalence of child abuse material and the vulnerability of the children involved. Such offences were also hard to detect as the accused persons need not step out of their homes.

In mitigation, Wong, who did not have a lawyer, said that his children were still studying and needed his support for their expenses.

“I regret what I did. This is my first offence. Please give me a chance and give me a lighter sentence,” he said.

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