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An actor was having a toilet break when a Mediacorp calefare actor in a bit part from the same drama they were filming together decided to snap a photo of him urinating.

The bit actor, 35-year-old Tay Bai Chen, then decided to send the photo to two different WhatsApp groups and bragged about it.

He was eventually arrested and pleaded guilty to a charge of taking a photo of a private act without consent and another charge of disseminating the video to cause humiliation to the victim. Another charge was taken into consideration.

Tay was sentenced to two weeks in jail on Jun. 23, 2023.

Filming together

According to court documents, Tay Bai Chen, an extras actor, was hired to be an audience member of a TV show filming at the Mediacorp campus on Apr. 10, 2021.

Tay went to the toilet during the filming break and noticed the actor using the urinal.

The actor, who was starring in the same show, cannot be identified due to a gag order.

Actor received tipoff

Tay whipped out his phone and snapped a picture of the actor from a distance.

A few minutes later, he sent the photo to two WhatsApp group chats with six and eight members, with the message "Who want see his k* k* j***".

One of the members who received the photo found Tay's distributing of the actor's photo inappropriate and informed the actor via Instagram.

The actor learned what happened on May 14, 2021, and informed his agency immediately.

Actor: "Extremely traumatised"

After Tay was identified, the actor reported him to the police a day later, on May 15, for taking a photo of him when he was using a urinal without his consent.

The actor said in his police report that he was "extremely traumatised" by the voyeurism incident.

He also said he felt "so violated" that a photo of him like this was taken and shared online.

"This guy needs to be punished and disciplinary actions need to be taken against him... who knows who else might have been (sic) fallen into this as well?”

He just wanted to "jokingly brag": Lawyer

The prosecutor sought a two to three weeks' jail sentence while Tay's lawyers, Josephus Tan and Cory Wong of Invictus Law, sought no more than two weeks' jail.

Wong described the incident as an "atypical case" of voyeurism and distribution, claiming that Tay's actions were not premeditated or borne out of "any sexual urges whatsoever" or malice.

Instead, Tay acted on the spur of the moment to seek attention to "jokingly brag to others" that he had managed to take a photo of the actor in the toilet.

Claimed photo did not actually capture the private parts

Wong said Tay was "simply attention-seeking" and "did not gain anything out of what he did".

Wong acknowledged that Tay's actions were done out of "obviously poor taste and obviously bad humour" and got "carried away" when he found himself close to the victim in the toilet.

Wong also pointed out that there was no other evidence to suggest that the photo had been disseminated outside the two WhatsApp groups.

He also claimed that the actor could not be immediately identified in the photo and furthered that his private parts were not captured even if the actor could be identified in the photo.

Offences committed in poor taste but harm caused: Judge

According to CNA, the judge said that while he accepted most of what Wong had said, the distress to the victim should not be understated.

"I understand that your client did it in poor taste, but still, harm is caused to the victim," he said.

In response to Mothership's queries, a Mediacorp spokesperson said, "We would like to share that we have not engaged the extra actor since the incident. We are unable to comment further."

Top image from Canva