SINGAPORE — A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 1.5 years’ probation on Thursday (Oct 1), after pleading guilty to taking videos and photographs up the skirts of female teachers and classmates.

He also filmed some classmates changing their clothes in a classroom.

The Malaysian, who is a Singapore permanent resident, was a student in two secondary schools in 2017 and 2018. He committed the offences then when he was 18 and 19 years old.

The first school had closed down and its staff members and students joined the second one at the start of 2018.

Neither he nor the schools, located in the central region of Singapore, can be named due to court orders to protect his victims’ identities.

District Judge May Mesenas ordered him to perform 60 hours of community service, remain indoors from 10pm to 6am, and attend an offence-specific treatment programme as part of his probation conditions.

He is also banned from using electronic devices with camera functions unless a probation officer or psychologist from the Ministry of Social and Family Development says he can.

His parents posted a bond of S$5,000 to ensure his good behaviour.

Earlier this year, the young man pleaded guilty to 10 counts of insulting a woman’s modesty, with another 12 such charges considered for sentencing. 

Adult offenders can be jailed up to a year or fined or get both penalties for the offence. 

Probation allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.

TARGETED TEACHERS, STRANGERS

The court heard that the youth first struck in September 2017. 

He was sitting across two female students at the McDonald’s outlet in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park when he filmed them under the table.

The next month, he placed his mobile phone on the floor of his school’s hall and took an upskirt video of a 33-year-old teacher when she walked past him.

He did it to her again in July 2018, when he captured footage of her inner thighs in a classroom.

From March to May 2018, he also filmed several female strangers while travelling up escalators at unspecified locations and at Nanyang Polytechnic.

Once, he was walking up a flight of stairs behind a 39-year-old teacher in his school and filmed up her dress.

On at least two other occasions, he took videos of female students changing their clothes in a classroom. He knew that they had a “habit” of doing so, Deputy Public Prosecutor Vadivalagan Shanmuga told the court.

The youth was caught on Aug 29 in 2018 when a female classmate was using his mobile phone.

The girl chanced upon a folder that contained inappropriate photos of their fellow classmate changing.

Shocked, she immediately reported it to the discipline master, who called him to the general office that day.

The discipline master found several of the indecent photos and videos in his mobile phone before calling for police assistance.