Man jailed 13 weeks for repeatedly filming 24-year-old stepdaughter showering in his flat

SINGAPORE — A 43-year-old man placed his mobile phone under a basin in a toilet to film his stepdaughter in the shower, watching the video clips later for his own pleasure.

For his actions, the permanent resident from Malaysia was sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail on Wednesday (Dec 22) after pleading guilty to one count of voyeurism. Two other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

He cannot be named due to a court order protecting the identity of his 24-year-old Malaysian stepdaughter.

The court heard that he tied the knot with the victim’s mother more than 10 years ago.

In 2019, the stepdaughter moved to Singapore from Malaysia to work as an administrative assistant. She then shared a room with her boyfriend in her mother’s and stepfather’s flat.

On Sept 5 this year, her stepfather returned at about 6pm after drinking three bottles of beer at a nearby coffee shop. Only the victim was in the flat with him.

After he took a shower in the kitchen toilet, he placed his Samsung phone, which was set to video recording mode, on a pipe under the basin. 

At about 7.30pm, the victim went to the toilet and got undressed to shower when she noticed the phone. Upon retrieving it and realising it was set to record, she checked the recorded clip and saw that it captured her stepfather placing it there.

The victim also saw that the clip showed her undressing and captured her private parts as well.

She got dressed and went back to her room with the phone. She called her boyfriend and uncle to tell them what had happened but did not confront her stepfather out of fear.

When he went to retrieve his phone and realised that she had taken it, he knocked on her room door but she did not respond.

Her boyfriend and uncle got to the flat later and went straight to the victim’s room. During this time, her stepfather knelt in the living room and shouted her uncle’s name twice.

The other man called the police instead and told the operator that he had seen “all the recordings”, and that they had locked themselves in her room because the accused was drunk.

Investigations later revealed that the victim’s stepfather began recording her in the shower in 2020 and did so on three occasions, using the same method.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Theong Li Han sought 13 to 15 weeks’ jail, arguing that the stepfather had gravely abused his position of trust and committed the offences in the sanctity of the victim’s house, where she ought to feel safe.

Her discovery of the phone was also “entirely fortuitous”, the prosecutor added.

In mitigation, the man asked the court through an interpreter for help to “see how I can quit alcohol”. He also said that his wife was “now all on her own”.

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