Jail, cane for man who sent photos of child's private parts to predator

A warehouse assistant sent pictures of his six-year-old daughter's private parts to an online predator thinking they were for a 13-year-old girl who wanted to have sex with him.

The minor was, in fact, Zulkiflie Rahmat, 40.

Zulkiflie, who then circulated the photos on the Internet, was jailed for six years on Feb 23 for offences including having 2,285 obscene images for circulation.

Yesterday, the 36-year-old warehouse assistant was sentenced to five years' jail and ordered to be given three strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to three charges.

These were outraging his young daughter's modesty, committing an indecent act by taking pictures of her private parts and transmitting five obscene images via the Internet.

The man, who is divorced, cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the girl's identity.

Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew said that the little girl was one of the youngest victims he had come across in a sexual exploitation case.

Calling the man's actions "abhorrent and deplorable", he said the father's duty was to love, care for and protect his daughter. Instead, he showed a "flagrant abuse of parental trust and authority".

Said District Judge Kenneth Yap: "(This was) a really tragic case involving such a young victim... In terms of depravity, (this case) ranks among the highest."

The court heard that the warehouse assistant started chatting with Zulkiflie, who had posed as a 13-year-old girl, on Facebook in October 2016.

Zulkiflie sent him three pictures of "her" private parts on Oct 26, and asked for similar pictures of his young daughter in exchange for sex.

Later that day, the warehouse assistant took his daughter to Westgate shopping mall in Jurong East, where he took the pictures.

He then sent five pictures via Facebook Messenger. Zulkiflie blocked him on Facebook after receiving the pictures.

In January last year, police received information that photographs resembling child pornography had been circulating online.

The warehouse assistant was arrested the same month. His former wife later obtained custody of their daughter.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 03, 2018, with the headline Jail, cane for man who sent photos of child's private parts to predator. Subscribe