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Titus Low Sentenced to 3 Weeks’ Jail for His OnlyFans Contents & for Defying Police Order

2022-10-12 , 2:39 pm

The verdict is out.

OnlyFans content creator Titus Low Kaide was fined S$3,000 for uploading obscene photos and videos online, and he was sentenced to three weeks in jail for accessing the website despite being ordered not to do so.

On Wednesday (12 Oct), Low pleaded guilty to one count of failing to comply with a police order by accessing his Onlyfans account while he was under investigation and banned from doing so.

Furthermore, he admitted to a second charge of transmitting obscene photos and videos to his OnlyFans account.

Three more charges were taken into consideration in his sentencing.

From The Beginning

According to the court documents, the 22-year-old created an OnlyFans account in April 2021.

Credit where credit’s due; he was wildly successful in this endeavour, as he earned more than US$240,000 (S$345,500) between April and October 2021, after tax deduction.

As of October 2021, he had 1,900 active subscribers, and over 4,000 expired subscribers.

Just a fun fact: the minimum subscription fee for OnlyFans is $4.99/month, with the maximum subscription price being $49.99/month.

This means that Low was pulling in US$9,481 in the month of October, excluding donations.

His Not-Safe-For-Work (NSFW) content was first brought to the police’s attention when someone filed a police report against him in September 2021, after finding an obscene video of Low in their 12-year-old niece’s phone.

Consequently, Low had his statement taken and OnlyFans account seized by the police. He was also ordered not to access his OnlyFans account, and the email account linked to it.

Although Low cooperated by surrendering his passwords, he did not tell the authorities that he had another email linked to his OnlyFans account.

After the police changed the passwords, Low contacted the OnlyFans helpdesk and told them that he was hacked, which allowed him to reclaim his account again.

He also created a new OnlyFans account.

The court heard that he posted three photos and five videos of obscene nature on the second account and continued to do so for the rest of the year.

He posted a total of 20 photos and 14 videos between 12 Nov and 27 Dec.

His defiance was discovered when the investigating officer tried to access his OnlyFans account for further investigation.

The police changed the passwords again, but Low managed to wrest it back using the previous method.

He succeeded and continued to upload more obscene content.

Wilful Defiance of Police Orders

Needless to say, neither the police nor the prosecution were pleased with his repeated non-compliance.

Hence, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Thiagesh Sukumaran sought a fine of $3,000 for the transmission of obscene materials and a jail term of four weeks for disobeying a police order.

He emphasised that the key issue in this case was Low’s wilfully defying an order given by the police.

After lying to the helpdesk that he had been hacked, he had contravened the order and profited from it by uploading more obscene material.

The DPP stated that this case was not about the “unenforceability of certain provisions”—i.e., completely stopping the transmission of pornographic materials online—or about the legality of OnlyFans.

He added that Low was not being “singled out for anything”.

Rather, the crux of the case is his wilful disobedience and repeated breaches of the police order.

Defence Asks For Probation

On the other hand, Lawyer Kirpal Singh sought to lighten the sentence to a fine, and asked for a probation suitability report.

(He succeeded at neither, but he did try.)

The defence lawyer brought up the fact that Low had a troubled childhood and had to fend for himself at a fairly young age.

Mr Singh added that Low was suffering from an adjustment disorder, citing a diagnosis report from Institute of Mental Health.

With regards to the charge on the transmission of obscene materials, Mr Singh argued that OnlyFans was designed for adults, whereby there are mechanisms such as facial recognition to prevent minors from accessing it.

Moreover, in order to complete an OnlyFans account registration, the user needs to key in their credit card information, which is something that minors would not have, and Low’s content was trapped behind a subscription-based paywall.

Mr Singh concluded that the platform was “very secure” and that it was “almost between two consenting adults”.

Then the lawyer pointed out there was a broader issue here: since the people involved are consenting adults, there is a possibility where they will transmit potentially obscene materials to each other.

He gave an example of a boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife sending intimate photos to each other.

“That in itself is technically an offence, but no action is taken,” said Mr Singh.

Hypothetically speaking, a boyfriend would only be liable to criminal charges if he threatens his girlfriend that he will upload the materials. The girlfriend, however, will not be charged, despite being the first to transmit the material.

As for the initial police report that triggered the investigation, Mr Singh argued that it is “the nature of the business” and that they cannot completely control what happens once the adult content is disseminated onto social media platforms.

What Mr Singh is referring to here is the fact that Low’s explicit content was leaked into other regulated sites, even though it was supposed to be exclusive to his paid subscribers on OnlyFans.

Mr Singh states that Low was not the one who posted it on other sites, rather, it must have been a paying subscriber who took a video from Low’s OnlyFans channel without the creator’s permission and uploaded it elsewhere.

Subsequently, it ended up in the 12-year-old’s phone.

The defence lawyer also related that he had asked Low why he defied the police order, to which Low said that he felt that he had an “obligation” to continue providing his prepaid subscribers with more content.

Given that this is the first case involving OnlyFans, Mr Singh felt that jail was not appropriate for this case.

However, Mr Singh said his client conceded that it was a “stupid thing to do” and he regrets it.

Rebuttals For The Prosecution

In response, the prosecution stressed again that Low was in court because he wilfully defied the police’s order several times.

“My learned friend seems to suggest he was picked on in some way. The crux of the offending is he disregarded the law and therefore he is before you,” DPP Sukumaran told the judge.

The prosecutor then refuted that there were no real safeguards on OnlyFans, as the police report shows that the video did end up in a 12-year-old’s phone. He also pointed out that there is always a risk of dissemination, even if the NSFW content is only meant for adult’s eyes.

DPP Sukumaran also denied Low’s eligibility for a probation, as it is for offenders below the age of 21, or if the offender has shown a strong propensity for reform.

Alas, there was no supporting argument for the latter. Low may suffer from an adjustment disorder but there is no evidence to show that it would result in him offending, and his repeated defiance of police order only proves otherwise.

To counter the defence’s argument that Low has become “reclusive” and shunned by the public since his charging, the prosecutor brought up two articles which feature Low opening an ice cream parlour and his recent marriage to Malaysian influencer Cheryl Chin.

As a matter of fact, the couple are expecting a baby in the near future.

“Those articles show that he is revelling in the public eye, contrary to what he is saying,” said DPP Sukumaran.

For more details on how Titus Low is making use of his scandal to generate more fame, watch this video until the end:

The Judge’s Verdict

For the most part, District Judge Brenda Chua agreed with the prosecution’s argument.

She noted that Low had planned and taken active steps to regain his OnlyFans account as soon as possible, as seen by how he approached the helpdesk more than once.

In addition to that, Titus Low had continued to upload explicit content to his account for two weeks until the police discovered it, which “demonstrates a disrespect for police orders and authority”.

She highlighted that his continued defiance shows a blatant disregard for the law.

As for the transmission of obscene material, she said that the number of obscene content and similar charges have been considered in the sentencing.

Those convicted of transmitting obscene material electronically are liable to a jail term of up to three months, a fine or both.

For failing to comply with the order to not access his OnlyFans account, Titus Low could have been jailed for a maximum of six months, fined up to S$5,000 or both.