SINGAPORE — Lin Li Hao developed a liking for his subordinate at work and went on to film her more than two dozen times using the toilet, and also took upskirt videos of her under an office cubicle partition.

Lin told a psychiatrist that he sometimes wore women’s underwear from the brand that this colleague used when watching the videos he took and masturbated to them in his bedroom.

He also took videos of another woman in a toilet but she caught him in the act. She did audit work for the manufacturing firm where he was the managing director.

Lin was attracted to her because she resembled the first victim, both being “sweet-looking and quiet”, he said.

They cannot be named due to a court order to protect their identities.

On Friday (Nov 22), for his offences committed from February 2014 to April 2017, Lin was sentenced to 18 weeks’ jail and fined S$600. 

The 46-year-old Singaporean had earlier pleaded guilty to 15 charges of insulting a woman’s modesty and possessing films without a valid certificate. Another 26 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

District Judge John Ng reduced the sentence after finding that Lin had Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disorder that may cause difficulties in social interaction.

The judge said that while the diagnosis gave “insight into his fixation on the employee”, Lin was still able to consciously make decisions and knew what he did was wrong.

“After a short but significant period of incarceration, he can continue his counselling sessions. Being punished would serve to indicate that (his crimes) were not acceptable, and he is expected to curb or resist any temptations to do so in the future,” District Judge Ng said.

The court heard that the first victim, a Malaysian sales executive, worked at the company from July 2011 to May 2016.

Lin took the bulk of the obscene videos of her while she was in the toilet and in their office. A few others were taken during business trips abroad or when they were at a restaurant.

VIEW OF VICTIM FROM HIS OFFICE

The second victim, who worked for an external audit company, was at the firm for two weeks in 2017.

She audited the company’s accounts with two of her fellow auditors, using a room on the second level of the building. A common corridor linked Lin’s office and the room, and Lin — who usually kept his door open — could see them when they walked by.

When Lin met the auditors, he felt that the second victim was “his type” as he liked reserved women with long hair.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail Wong told the court: “He did not have a girlfriend then and longed to have a woman like her. She also resembled the first victim, whom he had a liking for.”

Lin first filmed her on March 30, 2017 in the toilet, and again five days later.

On the second occasion, she noticed Lin’s mobile phone under the cubicle door and gasped, causing him to flee. 

She left the toilet and saw Lin returning to his office, holding his mobile phone by his side. However, she did not confront him directly, thinking she should call the police first.

Fearful that he had been discovered, Lin left the premises and drove around for a while before deciding to return to face the consequences.

Back in his office, he deleted the earlier video before police officers arrived and arrested him. The authorities found 57 intrusive videos on his mobile phone, including one of an unknown woman using the toilet.

Lin admitted to a psychiatrist that he took the videos opportunistically, and would derive pleasure from looking at them several times a day.

He further admitted to using his MacBook laptop to back up the data from his older mobile phones that he used to film the first victim. He did not publish the videos online or shared them with anyone else.