S’porean man, 20, attempted to film older sister showering on 2 occasions, gets 18 months’ probation

A 20-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 18 months’ supervised probation after attempting to film his older sister showering on two occasions.

The court also imposed a curfew, ordered him to complete 40 hours of community service, live at his paternal aunt's home, and attend a therapy programme, among other conditions.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism and was sentenced on Aug. 17.

The man and incident locations cannot be identified as a gag order was imposed to protect the victim.

First attempt

In court documents seen by Mothership, the man and his sister, who is two years older, lived together.

On Jul. 9, 2024, at about 9:53pm, his sister was showering in the common toilet.

The man went to the service yard of his flat, which had a frosted window with louvres looking into the toilet.

He held his phone below the window and recorded a 19-second video.

However, the video was black, but it captured the audio of his sister showering.

Minutes later, he held the phone up to the window panel and positioned it close to the bottom louvre.

He took a 47-second video.

However, he did not capture his sister showering, and it only showed the window and the wall beneath it.

Second attempt

On Jul. 12, 2024, between 12am and 1am, the man went to the service yard intending to record a video of his sister showering again.

He then extended his phone through a small opening in the middle of the window louvre.

When the man was adjusting the angle of his phone, his sister spotted the phone and screamed twice and shouted “Oi”.

At about 4:03am, his sister lodged a police report.

The man was arrested on the same day, and his phone was seized.

Deterrence

The prosecution sought both probation and reformative training.

They said the man was 18 years old at the time of the offence and argued there was a need for deterrence.

“The accused had targeted the victim, who was his sister, within their shared family home, where the victim had every reasonable expectation of privacy and safety,” they said.

The prosecution added that his multiple attempts suggest “his conduct was premeditated rather than an isolated lapse of judgment”.

Developmental needs

They further stated that the man’s father was “often unaware” of the man’s developmental needs and “seemed to feel helpless and had limited capacity to give guidance” to him.

“The accused’s father appeared to have condoned the accused’s offending by downplaying the seriousness of his actions. Beyond a verbal reprimand to the accused, his father failed to take any follow-up actions or to process the gravity of the incident between the siblings,” they added.

The prosecution also said the man had received prior warnings for theft with common intention in November 2018 and mischief with common intention in June 2023.

In 2021, the man attended the Guidance Programme — a six-month diversionary programme for youth offenders who commit minor offences — and received four warnings for failing to attend individual sessions without valid reasons.

The prosecution highlighted that the man “likewise minimised his sexual offences and clearly has difficulties appreciating the gravity of harm of his ‘prank’ on his sister".

"Rather, he believed that his sister was neither hurt nor affected," they added.

The prosecution concluded that reformative training "would provide the sustained and structured intervention necessary to address the accused’s unresolved needs, while retaining a sufficiently deterrent element".