KUCHING: A 21-year-old man was fined RM5,000 or sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment by the Magistrate’s Court today for threatening to distribute explicit photos and videos of his female acquaintance after she failed to reply to his WhatsApp messages.
The man, who works for a car rental company, pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 506 of the Penal Code before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan.
According to the charge, he had criminally intimidated the 26-year-old victim by threatening to share her nude photos and videos.
He committed the offence at a house in Jalan Stampin at 5:46 pm on October 26.
Based on the facts of the case, the victim received a message from the accused, threatening to release her nude images and videos if she did not respond to his WhatsApp messages.
Fearing that the videos would be circulated, the victim lodged a police report for further action and investigation.
The accused was arrested by a police team on October 28 in Batu Kawa, and four of his mobile phones were seized.
Investigations revealed that his phones contained threatening messages as well as the victim’s explicit photos and videos.
It was learned that the victim and the accused had met through a dating application.
Throughout their acquaintance, they never met in person and only communicated via WhatsApp.
They had also engaged in video calls, though the victim never saw the accused’s face. She had previously sent him her explicit photos and videos.
Additionally, the victim had lent the accused a sum of money, allegedly to pay his workers’ salaries.
