SINGAPORE — A 49-year-old man pleaded guilty to voyeurism charges on Friday (Sept 27) after recording his niece in various states of undress and creating deepfake pornographic videos of her.

He did so by hiding two cameras in the woman's toilet and bedroom.

He also used his "design expertise" to superimpose the victim's face onto pornographic videos with a mobile phone application.

Such digitally altered images, videos or audio clips are known as deepfakes.

The man pleaded guilty to an amalgamated charge of voyeurism and a charge of possessing voyeuristic videos.

He will be back in court on Oct 28, after the judge adjourned the matter to decide on the sentence.

The man and the victim cannot be named.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that the victim was from China and aged 23 at the time of the man's offences. She was his wife's niece who had lived with her since 2006.

He had met his wife in 2015 and married her in 2017.

The court heard that the man bought an apartment in December 2019 and lived with his wife, daughter and the victim.

The victim had her own room with an adjoining toilet.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tung Shou Pin said the woman believed that she had a good relationship with the man and would let him enter her room when he was vacuuming the apartment, among other reasons.

Sometime in 2020 or 2021, the man found a small video camera. Court documents did not state where he found it.

This camera had no Wi-Fi connectivity, a battery life of about an hour and would store footage in an internal SD card.

DPP Tung said that the man frequently argued with his wife and the couple had marital problems.

"Out of frustration, he became curious about what the victim did in the toilet," DPP Tung added without elaborating why.

Between May and June in 2022, the man put the video camera in the toilet that the victim uses. He would retrieve it occasionally to recharge it and review the footage. 

This allowed him to record the victim in various states of undress.

Sometime between late June and early July that same year, he bought a small video camera. This second video camera had a longer battery life and Wi-Fi connectivity, which allowed recordings to be viewed and downloaded on a smartphone.

DPP Tung said that on six incidents between July 4 and 9 in 2022, the man placed the camera in the victim's toilet and recorded her.

On July 11 that same year at about 7.10pm, he repositioned the camera under her bed while vacuuming her room. This allowed him to record her undressed.

The next day, the victim noticed the first camera taped under the sink. She cried and told the man's wife what she had found before calling the police.

The victim also decided to move out of the apartment because of the incident. While packing her things, she found the second camera under her bed and gave it to the police.

The man was later arrested.

DPP Tung said that as part of police investigations, the man's electronic devices were seized.

Forensic investigations into these devices showed that he had 17 deepfake videos that depicted the victim engaging in sexual activity.

"The accused admitted to having used his design expertise to create the recordings by using a smartphone application to superimpose the victim’s face onto live-action pornographic videos," DPP Tung added.

'MISGUIDED SENSE OF CONTROL'

The prosecution called for a sentence of 24 to 29 weeks' jail, saying that there was a need for a deterrent sentence for such sexual crimes.

"The accused abused the trust reposed in him by the victim. They had been members of the same household for about five years when he committed the offences, and he was married to her aunt who had taken care of her since childhood," DPP Tung said.

"Therefore, the accused had ready access to the victim’s room and toilet, such as when he was cleaning the apartment."

He added that the man was persistent In his offending since he repeatedly retrieved the cameras to review the footage, recharge the camera and reposition them.

The prosecution also highlighted that deterrence against deepfakes is "especially important because technological advancements have made it easy to commit such offences".

The man's lawyers — Mr Tang Shangwei and Mr Tian Warren of law firm WongPartnership — said that their client is deeply remorseful and ashamed of his actions.

They noted that the man was suffering from adjustment disorder with depressed mood that had a major contributory link to the offences committed, referring to a report by a senior consultant psychiatrist.

The lawyers emphasised that the man was not sexually attracted to his wife's niece, but that his actions were his "misguided way to feel a sense of control".

The man has sought help for his disorder, having attended 23 counselling sessions individually and with his wife.

He has also taken steps to rehabilitate himself by pursuing higher education, his lawyers said.

Anyone found guilty of voyeurism can be jailed up to two years, fined, caned or face any combination of the three punishments.

With the amalgamated charge, the maximum punishment could be doubled.

As for possessing voyeuristic videos, the man can be jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.