Jail for man who posted topless photo of ex-girlfriend

A man who feared that his former girlfriend had got together with her boss posted a topless photograph of her on the Facebook page of the modelling agency she worked for.

Kwek Jian Zong, 25, was jailed yesterday after a court heard how he took sexually explicit pictures of her during their three-year relationship.

He even threatened to circulate them online when she refused to have sex with him.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhas Malhotra said Kwek had been romantically involved with the part-time model since 2008, and had memorised her Facebook password while standing behind her one day in June 2010, after which he logged into her account several times.

She started work at the modelling agency in October that year and their relationship soon started to deteriorate.

The couple split in August 2011, after Kwek told his girlfriend - who cannot be identified - to quit the job and break up with the 52-year-old agency owner.

On Nov 29 that year, he posted a photograph of her breasts, though not her face, on the modelling agency's page.

The agency owner lodged a police report the next day.

Kwek admitted to three charges yesterday - transmitting an obscene object by electronic means, gaining unauthorised access to his former girlfriend's Facebook account and helping a loan shark to carry out electronic fund transfers with his POSB MasterCard between May and September 2013.

He was sentenced to three months and the minimum $30,000 fine under the Moneylenders Act. He was given a consecutive sentence of 10 weeks' jail for posting the obscene photograph, and a concurrent two months' jail under the Computer Misuse Act.

District Judge Jasvender Kaur said Kwek had victimised the woman using something given in intimacy as a weapon to violate her privacy.

DPP Suhas said that Kwek agreed to work for an unlicensed moneylender called Adrian in May 2013 after he could not repay a loan. He used his bank account and cards to perform electronic monetary transactions on Adrian's behalf.

Kwek could have been jailed for up to three months and/or fined for transmitting an obscene object.

For computer misuse, he could have been fined for up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to two years.

For assisting the unlicensed moneylender, he could have been fined up to $300,000 and jailed for up to four years.

elena@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on February 03, 2016.
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