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A Singaporean man claimed that a spirit made him enter a female toilet at the police unit, where he then pointed his iPhone 8 Plus at a female policewoman who was showering.

Serving national service

According to court documents, Jonathan Chua Wei Cong was posted to the police unit between January 2019 to March 2019 to serve his national service.

He was 22 years old at the time of the incident on Mar. 12, 2019, when he allegedly entered the ground floor female toilet at around 4:55pm.

Pointed phone camera at naked policewoman showering

A 30-year-old full-time policewoman was naked and taking a shower in a cubicle when Chua pointed his iPhone 8 Plus camera at her from above the cubicle door.

The victim, who cannot be identified due to a gag order, noticed the camera pointed towards her and shouted "Oi".

Chua fled the scene before he could take a photo or video the victim.

Premises locked down

She did not see Chua but reported the incident to her superiors, who locked down the premises to hunt for the perpetrator.

Based on her description of the phone, the search was narrowed down to Chua and 13 other individuals before Chua was ultimately identified as the culprit.

The victim filed a police report on the same day at about 8:39pm.

Handed three charges

Chua was slapped with three charges:

• intending to insult the victim's modesty and intruding upon her privacy;
• committing criminal trespass by entering the police unit female toilet; and
• possessing a mobile phone containing one obscene film.

He claimed trial.

Claimed he entered toilet under the spell of a spirit

At trial, Chua argued a female’s modesty would not be insulted if she did not know that the phone camera function was switched on, among his other claims.

The prosecution described that as a "ludicrous allegation" in its sentencing submission.

Additionally, Chua had "no qualms about lying repeatedly" and gave at least four "wholly contradictory" accounts.

He claimed it was possible that he entered the female toilet "under the spell of the spirit" that was following him, as he cannot remember the details of what happened and his mind was "blank" at that time.

Claimed he never entered toilet, among other things

Besides this, Chua also claimed he never entered the toilet, accidentally entered the toilet, as well as did not enter the toilet, but merely pushed open its main toilet door.

He also denied being the intruder, claiming there was no one showering there when he opened the door, and separately claimed that he wanted to prank or scare the victim without any intention to record her.

The prosecution stated that Chua displayed a lack of remorse and understanding for why his offending conduct was wrong during the trial, where he continued to downplay his culpability without basis, and persistently denied any wrongdoing.

In contrast, the victim, who had the relive the trauma at trial, broke down repeatedly when asked to recount the incident.

Convicted of two charges

District Judge Brenda Tan convicted Chua of one count each of criminal trespass and insulting a woman’s modesty on Feb. 16, 2023.

The prosecution called for a stiff imprisonment sentence, arguing that it should be extended due to Chua's utter lack of remorse and deplorable post-offending conduct.

They called for a sentence lasting a total of 10 to 12 weeks to be imposed.

Sentenced to 10 weeks jail

During sentencing on Apr. 13, 2023, Chua's lawyer Josephine Costan argued that there was no video recording of the policewoman and that her client had not been charged with attempting to record the officer’s images.

She asked Judge Tan to call for a report to assess her client's suitability for probation, which was refuted by the prosecution.

They are of the view that Chua has not demonstrated an extremely strong propensity, adding that has "shown no remorse whatsoever".

Judge Tan highlighted the mobile phone's recording capability indicated Chua’s intent to record the victim and added that his omission to make such a recording was not a mitigating factor.

She agreed with the prosecution and said probation was not a viable option for Chua, before sentencing him to 10 weeks' jail.

Intends to appeal

However, Chua, now 26 years old, intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

He was offered bail of S$15,000.

If convicted, the punishments for the respective offences are as follows:

• Up to one year jail, a fine, or both for intending to insult the modesty or intruding upon the privacy of any woman.
• Up to three months' jail, a fine up to S$1,500, or both for criminal trespass.
• Up to six months' jail, a fine not less than S$500 for each obscene film found in possession, or both.

Top image by Fabian Albert from Unsplash