Ex-nurse jailed after planting spy camera in hospital staff toilet to peep at colleague

SINGAPORE — A 26-year-old former staff nurse who worked at a hospital here was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail on Tuesday (June 14) for voyeurism offences.

The Singaporean had grown attracted to a fellow nurse. He then planted a spy camera in their unisex staff toilet in order to secretly observe her changing clothes there.

The man and the hospital cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of his victim, also currently aged 26. He pleaded guilty to one charge of voyeurism, with another two similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that they had worked together for about two years. At some point, he developed an attraction to the victim and began fantasising about her.

In July last year, he bought a spy camera from an online shopping platform. It allowed him to remotely view video footage from the camera in real-time, using an application on his mobile phone.

The camera could also record footage but he chose not to do so.

He then visited the unisex staff toilet in the hospital pantry to look for a spot to plant the camera.

He found one such spot on the ceiling light, where he could aim the camera lens in the direction of the shower area so it would clearly capture anyone who was bathing and changing clothes there.

He did not plant the camera then but waited to do so when he was on the same shift with the victim on Aug 8 last year. When she changed her clothes, he used the app on his mobile phone to peep at her for about five minutes.

After she left the toilet, he removed the device and took it home to charge its battery.

He repeated his actions on two other occasions over the next 10 days.

On the third occasion, another female nurse entered the toilet after he had planted the camera there. It had inadvertently been dislodged and fallen to the ground.

The nurse then kicked the camera but did not know what it was, so she placed it outside the toilet. Other nurses then went over to investigate when she was done changing her clothes.

Realising it was a camera, they handed it over to security officers who called the police.

For voyeurism, the accused could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or be punished with any combination of the three.