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A former Institute of Technical Education (ITE) lecturer was sentenced to four months' jail on Tuesday (Sep. 6) for taking upskirt photos and videos of women on campus.

The 48-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to two counts of insulting a woman's modesty and one count of attempting to insult a woman's modesty, reported CNA.

Three other charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the man was working at ITE College East in Simei at the time of his offences.

A gag order was imposed to protect the identity of the victims.

While the gag order does not cover the man's name, it was redacted in court documents.

Attempting to insult the modesty of a woman

On the morning of Oct. 25, 2019, while the man was on campus to teach a class, he spotted a female student wearing a "tight skirt that revealed her legs", court documents stated.

He then selected her as his target and turned on the camera function in his mobile phone, before he approached her.

Pretending to be teaching the student, the man positioned his phone at the edge of her table, facing her legs.

He directed his rear camera lens towards her skirt and attempted to take upskirt videos and photos of the students's inner thighs.

He did so for about one to two minutes before walking off.

After the class ended, the man made sure that no one else was around him before he took out his mobile phone to review the upskirt photos he thought he had taken.

But he realised that he did not manage to take upskirt photos and videos of the student.

Unbeknownst to him, the student had actually seen him position his phone's rear lens towards her skirt.

She immediately texted her father, sister and a few classmates. Her sister subsequently reported the matter to the police.

At least 133 upskirt photos and 17 videos seized

Police investigations revealed that the man had taken upskirt photos and videos of other women on campus over a period of four to five months, at a frequency of once every fortnight.

After his arrest, at least 133 upskirt photos and 17 videos were found in his phone.

His modus operandi

Investigations also revealed the man's modus operandi.

First, he would look out for female students with short skirts or those who were "sitting improperly" in his lecture class. He would also target such female students around the campus.

Second, he would take out his mobile phone and switch it to camera mode.

He would hold it and walk towards his target and act as if he were trying to teach them. However, in reality, he would position his camera lens towards the female student's legs.

He would then press the volume key multiple times to capture the upskirt photos.

After he had successfully taken the upskirt video or photo, he would walk away.

Once the class ended, the man would leave the classroom and review the photographs or videos when he was in a safe place.

Insulted the modesty of other female targets

According to court documents, the man had used his mobile phone to take an upskirt photo and video recording of an unidentified female's inner thighs in the campus' cafeteria on the morning of Jun. 5, 2019.

At about 11:39am on Jul. 29, the man did the same on another unidentified female at the campus' General Office.

Prosecution sought four to six months' jail

The prosecution had sought a jail term of between four and six months for the man, saying that he had abused his position of trust and authority as a lecturer.

The prosecution also said the man had committed the offences in a "covert manner".

According to Today, the man was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with depressed mood and a persistent depressive disorder, both of which were found to have contributed to his offences.

The defence counsel told the court that the man has since undergone treatment and that his psychiatrists agree that his risk of offending is "very low", as reported by Today.

The defence also said the man's offences were "not his usual behaviour", adding, according to Today:

"In fact, some students gave him good reports that he was very friendly and helpful — this is his usual behaviour."

Top image by Mothership.