SINGAPORE — A 20-year-old youth was sentenced to one-and-a-half years’ probation on Monday (Oct 11) for molesting a woman in their condominium gym, as well as illicitly filming a female schoolmate who was in a toilet.

He cannot be named due to a court order to protect the victims’ identities.

The Singaporean, who was aged between 17 and 18 when he committed the offences, will also have to perform 60 hours of community service and remain indoors from 10pm to 6am.

He has to attend treatment programmes for his sexual offences, and was banned from having any image-capturing device unless approved by the probation officer.

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

He pleaded guilty in August to one charge each of criminal trespass, insulting a woman’s modesty, and outrage of modesty.

District Judge May Mesenas took into consideration two similar charges for sentencing.

Probation is usually offered to first-time offenders between 16 and 21 years old. This does not result in a recorded criminal conviction and allows them to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.

The court heard that on March 17 last year, a 39-year-old woman who lived in the same condominium complex as the accused went to the gym for her daily exercise.

When the other users left, she opened the gym entrance’s glass door to circulate the air and began running on the treadmill.

The accused decided to use the toilet near the gym while on the way to his apartment at about 7.45pm.

He spotted the victim at the gym, went in there and pretended to walk around to look at some equipment but was occasionally looking at her.

She was listening to music while running on the treadmill and did not think much about his actions.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Tan told the court: “The accused then felt aroused and decided to go close to the victim to smell her. He then bent down and leaned forward to place his face very close to the victim’s buttocks… As a result, the accused caused his face to touch the victim’s buttocks.”

Shocked by this, she turned around. The youth apologised and hurriedly left the gym.

She later told her husband and they went to Pasir Ris Neighbourhood Police Centre to make a police report.

Separately, in May 2019, the youth had just taken a shower in his school’s men’s toilet when he heard voices coming from the neighbouring women’s toilet. 

He went to an open cubicle and placed his mobile phone underneath the door of the adjacent cubicle to record a short video. He fled after a female student who was in a cubicle opposite the one where he was saw him.

She then reported the incident to a teacher.

After he was identified and questioned by the authorities, he admitted to previously doing the same thing sometime between December 2018 and January 2019.