Regular Sammyboy Forum user gets jail for possessing videos of toilet users, sharing obscene images

SINGAPORE: A 50-year-old man who possessed voyeuristic recordings of female toilet users and posted obscene images on Sammyboy Forum was sentenced to two months and five weeks' jail on Tuesday (Aug 11).

Winston Liow Boon Hin, a Singaporean, had been a regular user of the adult forum for about a decade and posted 67 obscene images there.

He pleaded guilty to a charge each of possessing voyeuristic recordings and transmitting obscene images onto Sammyboy Forum.

A third charge was taken into consideration.

When a prison sentence is imposed that combines months with four weeks or more, CNA reports the sentences as spelt out by the court, since months vary in length.

THE CASE

Liow was arrested at Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall in the wee hours of May 14, 2022, on suspicion of his involvement in voyeuristic activities.

The defence said that the police were investigating a case of someone who had trespassed into the women's toilet and did a spot-check on Liow.

His phone was seized and 10 recordings of eight female victims in the toilet were retrieved from the device, along with 40 upskirt images.

Investigations revealed that Liow had been a regular user of the adult website Sammyboy Forum since his days in National Service.

Between March 2023 and May 2024, he posted 67 obscene images on Sammyboy under the user names "sabii" and "xiaoqianqian".

He claimed to have obtained the upskirt and toilet images from other adult forums, and said he posted them on Sammyboy to share them.

The prosecution sought a jail term of between two months and five weeks and two months and seven weeks for Liow.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicole Tay highlighted Liow's history of sexual offending, noting that in 2003, he was convicted of possessing obscene films and sentenced to jail. 

He was also convicted after a trial in 2017 of molestation and given jail and caning.

Ms Tay said that although Liow was not involved in making the obscene images, their potential reach was significant because he posted them on a public forum. 

MITIGATION

Liow's lawyers, Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law, sought not more than 11 weeks' jail.

In the mitigation plea, they said that Liow developed an urge to take photos of pretty girls in his late 30s.

He claimed that the pictures were not obscene and that they were not for sexual arousal.

He had been frequenting a forum where he would download and share links to obscene materials on Sammyboy twice to thrice a week for the past decade, the lawyers wrote.

He had two to three accounts so that he could post quickly, because if his points were low, his posts would take longer for the moderator to review or be rejected.

Liow denied doing so for sexual arousal, saying it was just to share his interest with other online users. He has stopped sharing on the forum since his arrest, the defence claimed.

They also said that Liow has been gainfully employed as a safety officer for the past eight years and is a contributing member of society.

He was "upfront and forthright" with his employer about this court case and the employer "valued his honesty" and chose to stand by him, saying they were prepared to consider re-employing him after his release, subject to management approval.

The lawyers added that Liow is the primary caregiver for his 79-year-old father who has vertigo, and that he supports his parents and gives regularly to charity.

For possessing voyeuristic recordings, Liow could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.

For transmitting obscene images onto an online platform, he could have been jailed for up to three months and fined.