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Man jailed 24 weeks for taking upskirt videos

SINGAPORE — If handphones continue to be abused as a tool for crime, the benchmark sentences for such offences may have to be increased, warned a district judge on Friday (Oct 28) as he sentenced a 28-year-old man to 24 weeks’ jail for taking upskirt videos on 121 occasions.

SINGAPORE — If handphones continue to be abused as a tool for crime, the benchmark sentences for such offences may have to be increased, warned a district judge on Friday (Oct 28) as he sentenced a 28-year-old man to 24 weeks’ jail for taking upskirt videos on 121 occasions.

Eugene Chong Sin Hwee was convicted of 12 charges of insulting a woman’s modesty, by taking videos of women’s undergarments and inner thighs, often along escalators at MRT stations and shopping malls. Another 109 similar charges were taken into consideration. 

“The handphone was invented for good use … (Now) it has turned into an instrument of crime. Judging by the large variety of ways it was used (by the offender), a significant general deterrent sentence must be imposed,” said District Judge Low Wee Ping.

Chong, formerly a bank officer at the POSB branch at Jurong Point, committed his crimes over one-and-a-half years from March 2013 to September 2014. 

At about 2.30pm on Sept 16, 2014, Chong’s last victim was travelling up the escalator at Tanjong Pagar MRT Station when she felt “an uneasy sensation” at her back. Turning around, she saw Chong standing very close to her, holding on to his iPhone 4 beneath her skirt.

Alarmed and insulted, the woman — who cannot be named to protect her identity — held on to Chong’s shirt and managed to restrain him with two passers-by, the court heard.

The police arrived shortly after and arrested Chong, who admitted to the offence.

Investigations revealed that Chong had taken multiple upskirt videos of unidentified women using the same mobile phone. Chong admitted to the police that he had been taking videos of women’s intimate parts since 2011. He was “intrigued” by such videos he saw on an online forum, and followed suit “for his own viewing pleasure”, the court was told.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Carene Poh charged that Chong’s offences involved “significant planning and premeditation” as they had persisted for more than a year. The ubiquity of mobile phones with cameras has now made it “cheaper and easier for the perverse to prey on unsuspecting victims”, she added.

Pleading for leniency, Chong’s lawyer said his client was assessed to be suffering from voyeurism and had voluntarily sought treatment. He added that Chong had lost his job due to the offences.

District Judge Low acknowledged that Chong had opted for psychiatric treatment “so that (he) will not be tempted in future”, but said that Chong’s case warrants a deterrent sentence. “I hope you will continue with treatment.

(You are a) highly regarded professional, I hope you will move on and leave this negative episode behind you,” said the judge.

Chong could have been jailed for a year or fined for each charge of insulting a woman’s modesty, or both.

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