A 32-year-old man received a 27-month jail sentence and five strokes of the cane after admitting to molesting an 18-year-old girl and convincing a 13-year-old to pose in lingerie during photo sessions in his NTU dormitory room.
Tnee Chin Kiat was convicted on March 25, 2025 of three offenses: outrage of modesty, procuring an indecent act by a child, and possessing child sexual abuse material. Three additional charges were considered during sentencing.
The court heard that Tnee, who was 25 or 26 when the offenses occurred, worked as a flight engineer while studying part-time at Nanyang Technological University. He began photography as a hobby in 2016 or 2017 and invited friends and strangers to model for him. His photo shoots took place in his Graduate Hall 1 dormitory room, where females wore lingerie, bikinis, and see-through swimsuits.
Court documents revealed Tnee approached women he found attractive, hoping for sexual encounters.
In 2018, he posted advertisements on Gumtree seeking “young, skinny, petite” girls to pose for photographs for payment. An 18-year-old responded and met him three times in two months at his dorm room. Each session lasted about two hours, with the victim posing in lingerie Tnee provided, receiving approximately $200 per session.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min stated that after the first two sessions, Tnee believed he had developed a romantic connection with her.
During the third session, Tnee told her to lie on his bed and secured her wrists to the bed frame with restraints. After photographing her in this position, he molested her twice and attempted to kiss her, but she turned away.
“The victim was shocked and afraid as she was restrained. She told Tnee that she wanted to stop the session and told him that his behaviour was not right,” DPP Tan said.
Tnee apologized, removed her restraints, and gave her $200 before she left.
That same year, Tnee approached a 13-year-old girl at an overhead bridge near her home, introduced himself as a freelance photographer, and invited her to model for him. The girl only provided her Instagram username.
After persistent messages from Tnee on Instagram, she felt compelled to agree to a photo shoot to make him stop contacting her.
At his dorm room, she followed his instructions to change into lingerie, feeling scared because she was alone with him.
“The victim told Tnee that she was uncomfortable, but he ignored the victim and continued to take photos of her. The victim felt very upset,” said DPP Tan.
Tnee paid her $80 after the session. Days later, he messaged her again requesting another photo shoot. When she ignored him, he continued contacting her until she threatened to file a police report.
The girl did not report the incident because she was afraid.
Tnee was arrested after approaching an 11-year-old girl for a photo shoot on September 13, 2020. Court documents did not specify if she posed for him.
During police interviews, he disclosed his other photo shoots, which led to the discovery of his offenses.
Police found 1,144 obscene video files on his mobile phone, laptop, and hard-disk drives. Of these, 69 videos and 81 photos were child sexual abuse material.
Tnee’s lawyer, Gino Hardial Singh from Abbots Chambers, said while his client knew about the child sexual abuse materials in pornographic files he had downloaded in bulk, he never viewed them.
District Judge Eugene Teo stated this didn’t change the fact that “they are highly objectionable materials for which caning ought to be imposed.”
In mitigation, Tnee wrote an apology letter to those involved. He stated counseling and Buddhist meditation had helped him change his life.
During sentencing, Judge Teo addressed Tnee directly: “I hope that as you are standing there (in the dock)… you were uncomfortable, because that indicates that you have some capacity for reform.”
The judge added: “This outcome is meant to signal something, Mr Tnee, that you should make sure you don’t falter in your efforts to reform yourself.”
NTU told The Straits Times in 2023 that Tnee had graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2016 and a master’s in 2020, without specifying his field of study. The university reported no allegations of criminal misconduct or charges against him during his time as a student.
