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Ex-sec school teacher pleads guilty to taking voyeuristic videos of students, colleagues and police officer

SINGAPORE — A former secondary school teacher pleaded guilty in court on Friday (Feb 25) to filming male colleagues and students at the school he worked in, as well as men at the common toilets in his condominium complex.

The former teacher, 49, took more than a hundred videos of boys and men using the toilets.
The former teacher, 49, took more than a hundred videos of boys and men using the toilets.
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  • The man struck from 2017 to 2018, taking more than 100 videos of unsuspecting boys and men
  • He often did this by pretending to be searching for lost items in the men's toilet
  • He was nabbed after filming an investigation officer using his condominium’s clubhouse toilet

SINGAPORE — A former secondary school teacher pleaded guilty in court on Friday (Feb 25) to filming male colleagues and students at the school he worked in, as well as men at the common toilets in his condominium complex.

He was caught when he targeted a police investigation officer who was using the condo clubhouse’s toilet.

The 49-year-old Singaporean man cannot be named due to a gag order to protect his victims’ identities.

He admitted to two charges each of committing public nuisance and making an obscene film, with another six similar charges to be taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that he had recorded at least 128 voyeuristic videos between February 2017 and April 2018.

At least 117 of them were taken at urinals in toilets or in the condo’s clubhouse toilet without the victims’ consent.

The remaining videos, which showed men masturbating or with their private parts exposed, were apparently taken with the subjects’ consent.

The accused would stand at the urinal next to the victim’s to film them. Many of them captured the victims’ faces and exposed genitals, while three clips captured an unsuspecting young boy of unknown age showering in the condo’s clubhouse toilet.

At least three of these videos were of teachers at his school, while at least two were of students.

The accused was eventually nabbed on April 15, 2018.

A police investigation officer, aged 31, had been swimming at the condo and went to the clubhouse toilet to shower before going to a bench and drying himself.

The accused then pretended to look for his condo access card in the toilet, which was a common modus operandi for him.

He stood on the bench in front of the victim with his mobile phone camera pointing down.

He told the victim he was trying to see if he had left his access card on the shower ledge. After managing to capture a minute-long clip of the naked victim, he left the toilet hastily.

Feeling like he was behaving suspiciously, the victim got dressed and left the toilet but could not find the accused.

He then went to his relative’s condo unit to collect his police warrant card and lanyard, before searching the compound for the accused.

He eventually spotted the accused, identified himself as a police officer and told him about his suspicions. The accused replied that he had not taken a video of the victim naked, but eventually handed his iPhone over.

As they walked towards the condo guardhouse, the accused repeatedly asked the other man to give him another chance.

At the guardhouse, the accused unlocked his mobile phone on the victim’s request and the video of the victim then popped up.

A security officer from the condo proceeded to lodge a police report.

The accused was interviewed at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) following his offences. He revealed to a psychiatrist that he would feel aroused when watching the videos, which he transferred from his phone to his laptop.

He also said he would feel guilty and delete recordings out of fear of being caught.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan sought at least 11 weeks’ jail and a S$2,000 fine, arguing that the accused had breached the trust reposed in him by his school students and colleagues.

He was diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress, but the prosecutor noted that his IMH report did not state the extent to which the disorder contributed to his offences.

Those convicted of making an obscene film can be jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$40,000, or both. Those who commit public nuisance can be fined up to S$1,000.

His offences predate the criminalisation of voyeurism. Those convicted can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of the three.

He will return to court for sentencing on March 23.

In response to TODAY's queries, a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesperson said that he left the education sector in April 2018 when his offences were discovered. He is no longer teaching in any school.

"MOE takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and discipline, including dismissal from service," the spokesperson added.

Related topics

court crime voyeur voyeurism secondary school

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