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SMU fresh grad gets 14-day detention order for filming female colleague in the toilet

SINGAPORE — A 23-year-old fresh graduate was handed a 14-day detention on Thursday (Dec 19) after taking illicit videos of women at his workplace’s toilet, while on an internship in 2017.

Hoon Qi Tong, 23, who graduated from the Singapore Management University earlier in 2019, had pleaded guilty to one count of insulting a woman’s modesty.

Hoon Qi Tong, 23, who graduated from the Singapore Management University earlier in 2019, had pleaded guilty to one count of insulting a woman’s modesty.

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SINGAPORE — A 23-year-old fresh graduate was handed a 14-day detention on Thursday (Dec 19) after taking illicit videos of a woman at his workplace’s toilet, while on an internship in 2017.

Hoon Qi Tong first took an upskirt video of a female colleague, but soon lost interest in such videos. He then decided to film women in the toilet to see if he could derive pleasure from it. 

Following two unsuccessful attempts, he was caught red-handed in the women’s toilet filming another colleague.

Hoon, who graduated from the Singapore Management University (SMU) earlier this year, had pleaded guilty to one count of insulting a woman’s modesty, for which he could have been jailed up to a year, fined, or both. Another charge of criminal trespass was taken into consideration for sentencing.

Under his 14-day detention, he will serve two weeks behind bars but will not have a criminal record when he is released. 

He also has to perform 130 hours of community service within a year. However, he will not begin serving his sentence immediately as an appeal may be filed against it.

His 31-year-old victim cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity. Similarly, the name of their workplace was redacted from court documents.

SAW HIM HOVERING OUTSIDE TOILET

The court heard that Hoon decided to try taking upskirt videos several months before September 2017.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Yanying said that Hoon had a girlfriend at the time and they had a mutual agreement to abstain from pre-marital sex, and he stuck to the arrangement as he respected her.

Then, on Sept 13, 2017, Hoon followed his colleague from her desk to the women’s bathroom. Before she entered, she had spotted him hovering outside the entrance of the adjacent men’s bathroom.

He waited until he was sure she had gone into a cubicle before entering the one next to hers, closing and locking the door behind him.

Mobile phone in hand, he extended his arm over the partition and began filming her using the toilet. When she looked up and saw his mobile phone, she immediately went to knock on his cubicle door.

He emerged and did not deny filming her. He also formatted his phone, effectively deleting the video, after she told him to get rid of it.

Hoon was arrested by the police after she reported the matter to her bosses. He was immediately fired as well.

While the police seized his mobile phone and his laptop, the upskirt and toilet videos could not be recovered.

DETENTION ORDER NOT 'A SOFT OPTION'

In sentencing Hoon, District Judge John Ng told the court that a detention order “should not be perceived as a soft option”, as Hoon will be incarcerated and deprived of his liberty.

The judge added: “It would result in the offender spending time in jail for his offence and would dispel any notion that he is being let off without being punished.

“The stint in prison would also serve as a reminder to him of the real and significant consequence of his actions, should he be tempted to commit similar offences again.”

He further noted that the harm Hoon caused to his victim was “apparent” from her letter to the court, where she said she fears using public toilets now after the incident.

“Once I hear someone else enter the toilet, I will leave as soon as possible… Whenever I hear any suspicious sounds, I would immediately look up to check and make sure there is no one filming me,” she wrote.

DPP Tan had sought eight weeks’ jail, saying there was nothing exceptional about the case such that Hoon should be treated differently from other adult offenders.

Hoon’s lawyer Mark Lee previously asked for a mandatory treatment order to be imposed, but while a psychiatrist found that Hoon suffered from persistent depressive disorder, it was only a mild contributing factor to his offence.

A mandatory treatment order is also a community sentencing option, offered to offenders suffering from mental conditions that contributed to the offence.

Related topics

court crime voyeurism upskirt SMU toilet filming mobile phone

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