Advertisement

Man jailed for arranging sex with minors overseas given further 12 weeks over child pornography

The Singapore State Courts. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)
The Singapore State Courts. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — A German man previously convicted for facilitating commercial child sex tours overseas was given additional 12 weeks’ jail on Wednesday (15 July) on charges of possessing pornographic material.

Michael Frank Hartung, 49, was jailed five-and-a-half years on 6 September last year for providing information to facilitate commercial sex with under-18 minors in the Philippines, after he was found guilty following a 20-day trial.

The Singapore permanent resident pleaded guilty to two other charges of possessing 245 obscene films, 10 of which contained child pornography. Another two charges of possessing films without valid licenses were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

Hartung, formerly a senior bank executive of Deutsche Bank, came to Singapore in 2006 and married a Chinese national. He has a daughter who is of kindergarten-school age. The German lost his job and annual income of $250,000 after he was charged and has since filed an appeal against his trial conviction and sentence.

Undercover policemen had trapped Hartung while posing as prospective customers and later raided his residence on 30 August 2016 based on the information that he was planning illicit trips overseas. During the raid, they seized numerous handphones, thumb drives, laptops and hard drives.

The police also confiscated a bag containing 235 DVDs, 225 of which were obscene films between an hour and five hours in length. A total of seven of these films contained child pornography with victims below the age of 16 engaged in sexual activity. Some were as young as five years old.

Four other gadgets seized - comprising of two handphones, a tablet and a laptop - also contained 20 obscene films, with three of these involving children. Police surmised that the girls involved could be as young as four, going by their appearances and file name.

The prosecution sought at least 15 weeks’ jail for Hartung given the large number of obscene films and the “significant degree of morally depraved acts” shown in the films. It also considered the length of the films and the ages of children who were sexually exploited.

“The court must send out an unstinting message to all like-minded offenders or people who currently have child pornography in their possession that such videos are clearly deplorable and offenders who continue to keep child pornography will be severely dealt with,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Ong.

By procuring such obscene films, Hartung had exploited child victims and supported demand for the films, said the prosecutor.

Hartung’s lawyer, Si Hoe Tat Chorng, said that Hartung had voluntarily surrendered the DVDs to the police, even though they had only been interested in the electronic equipment.

The DVDs had been in a “derelict state” and unused at the bottom of storeroom, showing that they were of no interest to Hartung, the lawyer said.

Commercial sex tourism with minor charges

Hartung met two undercover policemen on 26 September 2015 at Starbucks in Raffles City Shopping Centre and promoted commercial sex with minors to them. He told the two officers that he could travel to Manila in advance to prepare for their arrival and promised to arrange for six virgin girls between 14 and 16 years old to accompany them.

He later met another two undercover officers at a pub along Mackenzie Road in 2016 for the same purpose. Unbeknownst to Hartung, this meeting was recorded.

At his trial, Hartung claimed that he wanted to “play along” with the officers so as not to offend them. He also alleged that he wanted to meet the officers to seek legitimate business opportunities.

He claimed that he gave the cops information about the sex service in a bid to get out of the meeting. He also alleged a police conspiracy against him.

But the prosecution argued that Hartung actively “sought illicit business opportunities” for the officers posing as customers.

Other Singapore stories

Poly student admits to spitting over railing at Bugis Junction, towards Subway diners

Early closures, late starts for TEL train services from 20 Jul to 30 Aug

Man fed 3 elderly women insomnia drug to steal from them