Stalker, convicted under new act, jailed for a year
Stalker harassed victim with SMSes and even forced her to send nude photos of herself. Judge sentences him to a year's jail and says: His acts and threats were vicious
He is the first person to be convicted of unlawful stalking under the Protection from Harassment Act.
District Judge Lim Keng Yeow did not mince words yesterday when he jailed Lai Zhi Heng, 26, for a year.
He told the jobless Lai that his fixation on his victim was driven by his need to have power and control over her.
"His acts and threats were not only prolonged and unrelenting," Judge Lim said.
"They were also acute and vicious, aimed at keeping the victim trapped under his power so as to do his bidding, and calculated to cause as much embarrassment and inflict as much humiliation as possible."
On June 2, Lai pleaded guilty to three charges.
Yesterday, Judge Lim sentenced him to six months' jail for unlawfully stalking his then-teenage victim, six months' jail for causing hurt to her older brother with a rash act, and four months in jail for criminally intimidating the girl. The six-month jail terms are to run consecutively.
A second count of unlawfully stalking the victim was taken into consideration during sentencing.
The victim cannot be named to protect her identity.
CLASSMATES
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sheryl Janet George told the court that Lai and the girl, now 20, met in 2013 when they were classmates.
Though she had a boyfriend at the time, Lai and the girl had a brief sexual relationship.
Wanting to be her boyfriend, Lai started harassing her. She rejected his advances even after breaking up with her boyfriend.
She later told a lecturer about her ordeal. The lecturer confronted Lai and they had an argument.
Lai left the school as he assumed he had been expelled.
But the school never formally expelled him. He blamed the girl for "ruining his life".
His harassment grew worse and he even forced her to send 30 photos of her naked body to him in 2014.
Lai later printed fliers with her nude pictures and put them up near her home. He continued stalking her until this April. (See report below.)
Yesterday, Judge Lim said: "It is sadly obvious how much anguish and torment the victim would have suffered as a result."
He also cautioned young people against sexting - the act of sending out explicit pictures of one's body to other people.
Judge Lim added: "What seems innocent may easily prove to be profoundly damaging, for there are myriad motivations and methods for what is sexted to be abused.
"Those who face harassment or threats to sext ought to act firmly against them, seek legal advice or even have recourse to the authorities."
For unlawfully stalking the girl, Lai could have been jailed for up to a year and fined up to $5,000.
"Those who face harassment or threats to sext ought to act firmly against them, seek legal advice or even have recourse to the authorities."
- District Judge Lim Keng Yeow
The offences
Lai Zhi Heng, 26, tormented his victim for almost two years.
From November 2014 to November last year, the jobless man:
- Repeatedly threatened to release her nude pictures to people she knew if she did not comply with his requests.
- Sent many harassing text messages to her.
- Uploaded her nude pictures on three occasions and accused her of being a prostitute on her school's co-curricular activity Facebook group.
- Put up fliers with her nude photograph in public areas near her home. These fliers contained harassing messages.
- Threatened her so she would meet him.
- Followed her on many occasions.
On July 12 last year at about 11am, the victim's older brother tried to confront Lai, who had just posted harassing pamphlets at a lift landing near their home.
When Lai wanted to drive away, the brother, now 23, tried to stop him by standing in front of the car.
Lai accelerated and the brother was flung to the ground. He suffered cuts on all four limbs and had a minor head injury.
In January, Lai threatened to post his victim's nude picture online if she did not accompany him to his lawyer's firm to give a mitigation statement.
The court was told she was not legally bound to do so.
Between February and April this year, he:
- Followed her while she was going to school. He wanted to talk to her and physically prevented her from boarding the train.
- Left harassing messages addressed to her in public areas near her home.
- Repeatedly slipped unsolicited money in envelopes under her front door.
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