A Singaporean man has been charged in the country’s court for multiple offences after he posed as a Caucasian man on the dating app Tinder and duped multiple women into sending him their nude pictures. Worse, the man even blackmailed the victims that he will expose the explicit images if they ignored him or rejected his requests for sexual favours. Despicable!
Thankfully, none of the victims succumbed to his threats even though they felt fearful, threatened and harassed but instead reported the man to the police and stopped communicating with him.
As reported by The Straits Times, the man, 25-year-old Ong Chun Siang pleaded guilty yesterday (10 September) to 2 counts of criminal intimidation and 1 harassment charge involving two women and the court will also consider 1 charge under the Films Act as well as 3 for harassment and 2 for criminal intimidation linked to 2 other victims during sentencing.
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During the trial, the court heard how in 2018, Ong downloaded a photo of an unknown Caucasian man and used it to create a fake profile on Tinder under the name ‘Jake’. ‘Jake’ then matched with a 30-year-old woman on Tinder on 20 December 2018 and they exchanged contact numbers and started chatting on WhatsApp.
A week later, Ong sent her a message saying, ‘I wish I can see you in laces now.’
Deputy Public Prosector (DPP) Shen Wanqin during the trial then elaborated how the victim expressed her discomfort with the request and told him that she was worried he was not who he represented himself to be. The accused then assured the victim that she would be able to see him on 29 December that year.
Ong then told her that he was upset that he did not receive the explicit photographs and the victim finally sent him some nudes when he urged her to do so. On 29 December 2018 however, Ong told the woman that he would not be meeting her and admitted that he was ‘catfishing’ her.
Ong also claimed to have deleted the photographs when in actuality he didn’t. He then sent her multiple WhatsApp messages two days later but it was ignored. That is when he threatened the victim to post her pictures on pornographic websites and on social media.
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The DPP then said how Ong was ‘infuriated’ when the woman stopped communicating with him on 1 January 2019. He then set up a fake profile on dating app OkCupid showing her real name, age and mobile phone number without her knowledge or consent as to ‘punish’ her.
The prosecutor added that Ong stated on the profile that she was “looking for men” and “hookups”. He further uploaded two nude photographs showing her breasts and face. The victim then received various messages from strangers asking for sex.
With her friends’ help, she found the fake profile and told OkCupid to remove it which the platform did on 7 Jan 2019. The victim then lodged a police report and officers decided to ambush Ong. She duped him into thinking that they would be having sex and the pair met near a Middle Road hotel on 8 February 2019. Police officers which was standing by in the vicinity arrested Ong.
The court then heard how Ong committed similar offences against a 29-year-old woman he met on Tinder on 23 December using the same ‘Jake’ persona.
During the trial yesterday, Ong’s lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan told the court that his client has adjustment disorder to which the court called for a report to assess Ong’s suitability for mandatory treatment order (MTO). Furthermore, the court also called for a report to assess if he is suitable for a day reporting order (DRO).
The trial is still ongoing and Ong’s case has been adjourned to next month.
Also read: SG Police Sergeant Charged For Seeking Relationship With Woman In Exchange For Help With Case
