A 24-year-old external school camp instructor was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail on 1 Sep 2025 for sending a photo of his private parts to a 15-year-old student.
Ilyas Mohd Yusoff pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally causing a minor to observe a sexual image at the State Courts of Singapore.
The court issued a gag order protecting the victim’s identity. Her secondary school and Ilyas’ company were not named in court papers.
Camp Instructor Maintained Contact Despite Company Policy Prohibiting Student Communication
Ilyas worked as an external camp instructor when his company was engaged to run a three-day school camp in March 2023. He was assigned to the victim’s class and interacted with her during the programme.
The pair followed each other on Instagram after the camp concluded. Ilyas knew that instructors were prohibited from maintaining contact with students after camps ended.
He initiated conversations with the girl and they continued interacting on Telegram from March to May 2023. Ilyas later asked to add her on Snapchat so he could send images that disappeared after some time.
The instructor began “sexting” the victim on Snapchat about once a week when he felt “horny”. He would typically start with regular conversations before they took on a sexual tone.
Ilyas shared his sexual preferences with the girl and told her he would get “aroused” when she threatened him. He asked her to have sex with him while knowing she was 15 years old.
On 1 May 2023, Ilyas sent the victim a picture of his private parts via Snapchat. Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim told the court that Ilyas wanted the victim to blackmail him by threatening to leak the photo, as being blackmailed in this manner sexually aroused him.
The victim felt disgusted when she saw the photo. She felt uncomfortable and believed Ilyas was harassing her by continuing to message her on Snapchat and Telegram.
She reported the incident to her school and police were called in.
Defence Claims Victim Approached Instructor First, Judge Considers Age and Clean Record
The deputy public prosecutor asked for 12 to 15 weeks’ jail for Ilyas. He said the instructor was fully aware of the victim’s age and the “sheer inappropriateness” of contacting her after the camp ended.
Ilyas proceeded to sext the victim for an “extended period of time” leading up to sending the explicit photo, the prosecutor added.
Defence lawyer Ashvin Hariharan from Ashvin Law sought six to eight weeks’ jail instead. He said Ilyas was awaiting enlistment into National Service when he became a facilitator assigned to the victim’s school.
Mr Hariharan argued there was no abuse of trust as it was not a teacher-student situation. Ilyas worked as an independent contractor with a training consultancy conducting team-building activities for schools.
The defence claimed the victim had approached Ilyas on the last day of the camp and repeatedly asked for his Instagram account details. Ilyas initially refused as he knew it was prohibited by his company, but the victim found his profile and followed him, so he followed her back.
Regarding the sexual messages, Ilyas claimed he only sent them suggesting they would engage in intercourse after the victim turned 16. Mr Hariharan said his client had no intent to harass the victim, though he did not object to the fact that she may have felt harassed.
The judge said she was “more inclined” to agree with the jail term range suggested by the defence counsel. She considered Ilyas’ age and clean record, as well as the fact that he had sent a photo instead of a video.
Ilyas had no prior convictions. He faced a maximum penalty of two years’ jail, a fine, or both for the charge. Another charge was taken into consideration during sentencing.
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