After being caught redhanded taking illicit videos of a woman in the supermarket, a Nanyang Technological University (NTU) student was found to have over 400 upskirt videos on his phone.

On Wednesday (Sep. 16), Shaun Ho Yan Liang, 26, pleaded guilty to two charges of insulting a woman's modesty and a charge under the Films Act, reported CNA.

A fourth charge under the Films Act will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Ho admitted to taking 459 upskirt videos of 334 women between February and July 2018.

He had taken these videos at various locations around Singapore, including Eastpoint Mall in Simei and around NTU's campus — where he was studying Psychology.

Caught redhanded

Ho's spree finally came to an end on Jul. 22, 2018 when he was caught in the act by a woman and her boyfriend.

He had following the woman around a supermarket in Eastpoint and managed to record 10 videos of her.

The woman noticed Ho following her and told her boyfriend about it, who then observed Ho pointing his phone under the woman's t-shirt.

Took videos every day for a span of 6 months

Investigations found that Ho's modus operandi involved squatting or standing close to the women he targetted.

He would then use an application on his phone that allowed him to record videos while rendering the screen blank.

These videos captured the women's privates.

Court documents reveal that Ho had taken these videos approximately every day from Feb. 2 to Jul. 22, 2018, with more than one victim targeted per day at times.

He even took videos during lessons at NTU.

Police also found the psychology student was in possession of 106 obscene and pornographic films.

These films were stored on his laptop and had been downloaded from online websites.

"Bright individual" but created "atmosphere of fear"

In his sentencing submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh sought for Ho to be given a sentence of 10 months' and three weeks' in jail.

"Such offences insidiously undermines the sense of security and safety that all women ought to feel in public, and creates an atmosphere of fear and suspicion within society, even in settings that ought to be comfortable and familiar," wrote Teh.

According to CNA, Ho's defence lawyer asked for a lighter sentence, noting that his client is a "bright individual" who is in his final year at NTU.

"The accused is a highly motivated student with a bright future and has done well," said the lawyer.

CNA reported that the case has been adjourned to Sep. 23.

For each charge of insulting a woman's modesty, Ho could be jailed for a year, fined or both. For possessing obscene films, he could be jailed for up to six months, given fines of at least S$500 per film up to a maximum of S$20,000, or both.

Top image from NTU’s Facebook page and Mothership file photo

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