Reported in The Straits Times, 20 Nov 2017
A man was, on Monday, charged in court for intruding on the privacy of 17 women by filming up their skirts, as well as having obscene films in his possession.
The 27 year old faced 19 charges in total, and admitted to five counts of insulting the modesty of a woman and one under the Films Act.
He was arrested on March 22 this year after an MRT commuter caught him in the act. The commuter, a 41 year old, was riding on the same escalator as the Accused at Newton MRT station, and noticed him holding his mobile phone low and awkwardly, and standing very close to the woman in front of him. He then saw him position the mobile underneath her skirt. The commuter informed Station Control who apprehended the Accused shortly after. He was then detained, but deleted the video before the police arrived. A check of his mobile and laptop revealed nothing incriminating.
However, a raid of his home found 47 obscene and uncensored films in the central processing unit (CPU) of his desktop.
The Deputy Public Prosecutor recommended a term of no less than 5 weeks’ in prison for each insulting of modesty charge. She highlighted that the Accused could use the files for repeated viewing and possible circulation, not to mention the fact that this was a gross intrusion of multiple victims’ privacy over the span of about 2 months. There is also a need for deterrence seeing as how these kinds of crime are difficult to detect. The Accused, represented by GJC criminal lawyers, explained to the court that our client was undergoing psychiatric treatment, and would have follow-up treatment upon his release from prison. We also stated that the Accused had apologized to the victim and was deeply remorseful.
SENTENCE:
The Accused faces a global sentence of 10 weeks, as well as a $500 fine for being in possession of the obscene films. He could have faced a term of up to 1 year in prison and/or fined for each charge of insulting the modesty of a woman. He could have also faced up to 1 year in prison and/or a fine of $1,000 for each charge of being in possession of an obscene film.
