Dad pleads for lighter sentence for 20-year-old NSF who traded child porn online: 'I understand he has done wrong'
Dad pleads for lighter sentence for 20-year-old NSF who traded child porn online: 'I understand he has done wrong'
Christine Tan
The Straits Times
May 6, 2025
A 20-year-old full-time national serviceman who had 10 sexually explicit videos of children on his electronic devices, and traded such videos with other individuals on social networking platforms, has been sentenced to 12 months' reformative training.
Mohamed Danial Rafiuddin Mohamed Rashid was deemed unsuitable for probation. He will be detained in a centre to undergo a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
Danial pleaded guilty on Feb 4 to one count of having the video clips on his iPad and mobile phone.
At his sentencing hearing on May 6, Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Chew said that after Danial pleaded guilty, he gave information to his probation officer that contradicted court documents.
This showed that he lacked remorse and acceptance of responsibility for his offence, said the prosecutor.
Danial had told investigators that he was first exposed to child pornography some time in 2016, when he came across a Facebook group containing videos of children engaging in sexual acts.
He obtained copies of such videos by screen recording and saving them on his electronic devices.
DPP Chew told the court previously: "The accused also admitted that he traded and exchanged child pornography videos with other like-minded individuals on Telegram, WhatsApp and Facebook.
"The accused admitted to doing so... until a few weeks prior to his arrest (in 2023), and that he had traded with around 10 to 15 individuals."
Without revealing details, the prosecutor said that in December 2023, the police received a tip-off that Danial was suspected to be in possession of child abuse materials.
Officers raided his home later that month and arrested him. They also seized his electronic devices, including his mobile phone and iPad.
One of the clips showed a girl who appeared to be between five and seven years old, while the other nine videos showed boys who seemed to be between six and 14 years old.
After Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh handed down the sentence, Danial's father pleaded for a more lenient sentence for his son.
Speaking through a Malay interpreter, his father said: "I understand that he has done wrong and his offence is quite serious. However, I hope your honour could lower his sentence as he is still young; he is still in national service."
His father added that he always accompanied Danial while he was out on bail, and his son has not reoffended since.
Judge Soh said he understood the sentence was difficult for Danial's father to accept, but that the duration of reformative training is necessary to ensure he does not reoffend.
The judge also directed the family to speak to a court counsellor after the hearing.
Click here to contribute a story or submit it to our WhatsApp
Get more of Stomp's latest updates by following us on:
Share this article
Show Comments
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Norwegian gynaecologist jailed for dozens of rapes over 18 years
Norwegian gynaecologist jailed for dozens of rapes over 18 years OSLO – A Norwegian court on June 6 sentenced a doctor to 21 years in prison for committing dozens of rapes over a period of almost two decades. Arne Bye, 55, was found guilty of committing 70 counts of rape and sexual assault during gynecological examinations of his patients between 2004 and 2022. He was also condemned for 80 instances of abuse of his position. Bye committed the acts at his medical practice in the town of Frosta in central Norway. The court in the city of Trondelag barred the doctor from exercising his profession indefinitely and demanded he financially compensate his victims. Ninety-four women testified during the trial, describing how Bye committed multiple acts of non-consensual touching and digital penetration without medical justification. The acts all constitute rape under Norwegian law. Bye also filmed the assaults. 'The suspect's actions make this case an extremely serious one. The actions are unacceptable,' the Adresseavisen newspaper quoted judge Espen Haug as saying in court. The sentence matched the one requested by the prosecution. Bye's defence had argued for lesser sentence, recognising only 20 of the rapes. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US citizen Joseph Tater leaves Russia after detention and psychiatric treatment, TASS says
MOSCOW - U.S. citizen Joseph Tater, who was detained in Moscow last August and later sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment, has left Russia, the state news agency TASS said on Friday. Tater, who according to a Kremlin source last month was one of nine Americans being held in Russia that Washington wanted returned in a prisoner exchange, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last August for "petty hooliganism" after being accused of abusing staff at a Moscow hotel, something he denied. Russian state news agencies later said he was also being investigated on a more serious charge of assaulting a police officer, which carries up to five years in prison. But on April 6 a court ordered Tater be removed from pre-trial detention, saying he was not criminally responsible for his actions after doctors diagnosed him with a mental disorder, according to state media. TASS reported on Friday that Tater had been discharged from the psychiatric clinic where he was being treated. It cited unnamed medical sources as saying that the clinic had no grounds to keep him there and had let him leave for outpatient treatment. TASS cited a law enforcement source as saying Tater's current whereabouts were unknown, but that he had left Russia. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Russia says its strike against Kyiv and other centres was a response to Ukrainian 'terrorist acts'
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko Russia says its strike against Kyiv and other centres was a response to Ukrainian 'terrorist acts' MOSCOW - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that its forces had carried out a massive and successful strike on military and military-related targets in Ukraine overnight in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. Russia's military released the statement after Ukrainian officials said Russia had launched an intense missile and drone barrage at Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the early hours of Friday and that three people had been killed. Russia has accused Ukraine of being behind a deadly bomb attack on a bridge over a railway line in western Russia at the weekend that was blown up just as a train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath. Seven people were killed and 155 injured in the incident which Kyiv has not taken responsibility for. Separately, Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable bomber planes at airfields over the same weekend, causing significant damage. President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump this week that he would retaliate. The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that the big overnight strikes had been a response to what it called Kyiv's "acts of terrorism". "Everything that is taking place within the framework of the special military operation (in Ukraine), everything that is being done by our military on a daily basis, is a response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, which has acquired all the characteristics of a terrorist regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Ukraine has frequently accused Russia of terrorism, citing attacks in which thousands of civilians have been killed. Both sides say they do not target civilians. The Russian military said in its statement that it had used long-range weapons to strike Ukraine. "In response to terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike overnight with long-range air, sea and land-based precision weapons," the ministry said. It said the strike had targeted "Ukrainian design bureaus, enterprises for the production and repair of weapons and military equipment, assembly workshops for strike drones, flight training centres, and Ukrainian armed forces weapons and military equipment depots." "The objective of the strike was achieved. All designated targets were hit." Russian troops had also taken control of the settlement of Fedorivka in eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
