SINGAPORE: Online personality Kurt Tay has been handed 10 fresh charges of distributing obscene material online and threatening a person in a Telegram chat group.
Tay, whose real name is Tay Foo Wei, now faces a total of 11 charges – 10 for distributing intimate images or videos of a woman without her consent to others via Telegram, and one charge under the Protection from Harassment Act of making threatening, abusive or insulting communication.
The charges are for Tay sending photos and videos of the same woman to users on Telegram and to chat groups, showing the woman performing a sex act.
The distribution was without her consent and likely to cause her humiliation, alarm and distress, the charges state.
On top of two chat groups, Tay also allegedly sent the material to seven people in October 2023.
The names of the recipients and the chat groups cannot be published as the court has imposed a gag order on their names.
The victim is also protected by a gag order.
The sole harassment-related charge that Tay faces is for several statements he allegedly made in a Telegram chat group on Oct 18, 2023.
He purportedly asked if anyone knew where to hire a killer and that he wanted someone to die “ASAP”, including vulgarities in his message.
The court heard on Wednesday that Tay might face additional charges.
Tay’s lawyer told the court that his client has been “harassed and heckled by the public”, and that this has caused grief to his family.
Tay would be making police reports, the lawyer added.