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For over three years, a former discipline master filmed 168 upskirt videos of at least 45 female teachers and students in his school.
The 50-year-old man pleaded guilty to three charges of insulting a woman's modesty. Another five charges were taken into consideration.
A gag order prohibits the publication of the man's identity to protect the victims.
He was sentenced to 10 months and two weeks' of jail on June 13, 2023.
Lured teachers and students into compromising positions
According to court documents, the married father-of-three committed the offences between April 2015 and July 2018.
He would invite teachers and students to use his workstation for data entry, then place his mobile phone beneath their skirts to record the upskirt videos.
He took 156 upskirt videos of at least 38 different female colleagues and 12 upskirt videos of at least seven different female students.
He would only invite female colleagues wearing dresses or skirts and seldom invited male colleagues over.
Female colleagues wearing trousers were also excluded.
Once, after confiscating the phone of a student who had filmed two upskirt videos of a female teacher, he added the videos to his own collection by taking videos of the recordings using his phone.
He also recorded an upskirt video of a female relative at a party hosted by his mother-in-law in February 2017.
The man did not share or publish the videos but admitted to using them for sexual pleasure.
He was eventually caught when a teacher at the secondary school filed a police report in July 2018.
She suspected other teachers, including her, were filmed.
The police recovered a total of 173 upskirt videos from his hard drive and found that the files were either labelled with the victims' names or with vague descriptions such as "Student1" or "Lift Girl".
Abused position as discipline master
The prosecutor sought a sentence of between 12 to 18 months imprisonment, highlighting the long duration of the offending and the large number of victims involved.
She said filming upskirt videos "insidiously" undermines the sense of ease and safety that women ought to feel in public, and it's even more disturbing when the offences are committed by the men they know and trust.
The prosecutor pointed out that the man had abused the trust of his female colleagues and capitalised on his position as discipline master to commit the offences with "deliberation, rather than on impulse".
She emphasised that at least seven victims were young and vulnerable students, and he was responsible for safeguarding their wellbeing but instead exploited them using his authority.
Mental condition not reason to not go jail: Prosecution
The prosecution also pointed out that while the man was suffering from major depressive disorder at the time of his offences, they believe a non-custodial sentence is not appropriate.
A Institute of Mental Health (IMH) report dated Sep. 28, 2020 said the man had unexpectedly lost his mother in mid-2015, “precipitating acute depressive grief”, and was appointed the discipline master of the Secondary School in end 2015, which exacerbated his stress.
The report also stated that the man's wife underwent surgery in 2016, which caused the frequency of their sexual intimacy to drastically diminish.
The prosecutor noted that while his circumstances "invite sympathy", they do not excuse his conduct and he should be sentenced to jail as the predominant sentencing consideration is to deter others from offending.
She also said the doctor highlighted that the man has a moderate risk of reoffending if left untreated, and the prisons would be capable to ensure he gets treated.
Judge's remarks
In her written brief sentencing remarks, District Judge Brenda Tan pointed out that other than the report dated September 2020, three other medical reports was issued for the accused, including a mandatory treatment order suitability report given in October 2022.
The same IMH doctor opined in the other reports that the man's major depressive disorder had at one point "transmorgified" into a persistent depressive disorder, which he is still suffering from.
While the doctor's expert opinion is that the man's mental condition had contributed to him offending, due to "an ill-advised recourse to and reliance on a highly dysfunctional and maladaptive as well as unlawful coping mechanism" to record upskirt videos, Tan noted that the doctor had made it clear the man could have controlled his base desires and impulses, but he did not.
She cited a High Court decision which stated that if an offender's ability to refrain himself was not impaired, and instead chose to not exercise self-control, then his mental condition is not much of a reason for a lesser sentence.
Tan emphasised that for upskirt offences, public interest to deter other offenders, and ensuring the offender does not reoffend, are paramount.
According to court records, the man has filed an appeal against his sentence.
Top image from Unsplash.