Man arrested for performing obscene act on child targeted same victim while on bail

SINGAPORE – A man arrested for an obscene act on a child targeted the same boy again while on bail, despite being told he should not have any contact with the victim.

Tang Seok Chye, now 70, also took 62 explicit images of the boy with a camera, including some which showed the victim’s face.

Tang was on April 15 handed a jail sentence of six years and 10 months after he pleaded guilty to one count each of performing an obscene act on a child, being in possession of child abuse material, and producing such content.

Four other charges were considered during his sentencing.

His bail was set at $25,000, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on April 29.

Tang was first arrested on Aug 11, 2021, after a woman accompanied her 13-year-old son to make a police report alleging that the man had performed an obscene act on the victim.

After seizing multiple electronic devices, including two mobile phones, from Tang’s home, the police discovered 226 sexually explicit images and videos of children.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Benjamin Low told the court that 62 of them showed the victim.

He said Tang, out of guilt, would usually delete the videos from his devices after viewing them.

“However, the 164 videos had not been deleted from his devices when they were seized by the authorities. (Sixty-two) images were, in fact, produced by the accused himself.”

During investigations, the police learnt that the victim first got to know Tang in 2019 when he accompanied his friend to the man’s home to play computer games. The boy was then 12 and in Primary 5.

After that, the victim would occasionally spend time in the flat after school, where the man tutored him.

Tang started targeting the boy from Nov 5, 2020, when he used a camera to take 62 explicit images of the victim.

The first time he performed an obscene act on the boy was in March 2021. He would then continue to do so about once or twice a week.

The prosecutor said the victim was not aware that the man’s actions were wrong.

He added: “The victim further believed the accused when the latter claimed that his acts... were done for the purpose of checking on the development of the victim... since they had talked about puberty with one another.”

After his arrest, Tang was released on bail and, as part of his bail conditions, he was not supposed to have any contact with the victim.

But he did.

Court documents did not state if they had lived close to each other, but the prosecutor said the boy turned up at Tang’s home again in early 2022 and was allowed in.

DPP Low said: “From March to April 2022, the victim occasionally went back to the accused’s house and would stay there for several hours as he believed that the accused had changed for the better.

“On one occasion... the accused asked the victim why the latter had reported him to the police, to which the victim kept silent.”

In June 2022, the victim was in Tang’s flat when the man performed a sexual act on the boy.

The prosecutor said that the victim did not consent to the act, but he did not stop Tang out of fear.

Tang was eventually charged in court in 2025.