Jail for voyeur who preyed on at least 27 victims, including 3 close female friends

SINGAPORE: Over a period of about four years, a voyeur targeted at least 27 victims, including three close female friends, who felt betrayed after finding out he had secretly recorded intimate videos of them.

One of them, identified in court documents as the first victim, was so shaken by her ordeal that she had to undergo counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Another close friend, identified as the second victim, found it difficult to concentrate and had to ask for a six-month extension to complete her PhD to a satisfactory standard.

The offender, who committed his first offence in February 2019, identified 21 of his other victims as former colleagues, college friends and a former intern. He could not recognise the others.

The Malaysian man, 33, was a software engineer when he was arrested in 2023. His electronic devices were later found to contain 53 upskirt videos and at least 40 videos of some victims showering.

On July 11, he was sentenced to 20 months and four weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to five charges including multiple counts of voyeurism.

Eight other charges were considered during sentencing. He has not been named to protect the identities of his friends.

He took an upskirt video of another close friend, identified as the third victim in court documents, in 2019 when she was 24 years old.

The woman, her boyfriend whom she later married, and the offender were close. The couple would ask him to take care of her rented apartment whenever they went overseas.

While taking care of the unit, the offender would invite other friends over to hang out.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En said: “Unbeknownst to his friends, the accused took the opportunity to commit various voyeuristic offences there.

“The accused intentionally recorded six of his friends by placing his handphone in the toilet of the (apartment) to record them in a state of undress.”

He also recorded upskirt videos of the third victim inside her own home in 2021 and 2022. She felt “very vulnerable and attacked” when she found out what he had done, the court heard.

DPP Tay said: “She is now sceptical of everyone around her. The third victim is presently seeking professional help with a psychotherapist.”

The second victim was 21 when the man used a mobile phone to record her private acts in a toilet in 2019.

In 2021, he placed the device in various undisclosed hidden locations to record her in a state of undress on at least four occasions.

DPP Tay told the court: “The second victim now felt that… trust was abused, and she no longer knows who she can trust, no longer feeling safe around many of her male friends and even her own father.

“(She) had recurring dreams that she was being assaulted by different men that she trusted.”

The first victim first met the offender during a university programme in 2014 and they grew close to each other. She was 24 in 2019 when he recorded her private acts in a toilet.

Between 2020 and 2023, he repeatedly recorded her in a state of undress by placing his mobile phone at various undisclosed hidden locations.

His offences came to light on April 8, 2023, when she invited him and two male friends to her home to play board games.

He placed his mobile phone on top of a box in her bedroom, activated the recording mode and left the room.

The woman was drying her hair in her bedroom after a shower when she spotted the device.

She alerted the police after finding incriminating contents on the phone, and he was arrested at around 10.30pm that day.

The DPP said: “(She) had to take two weeks off from work because the ‘constant nightmares, insomnia and paranoia’ left her exhausted and unable to function.”

Following his arrest, the offender told investigators the videos he had taken were meant for his own viewing, and he had not shared them with others. – The Straits Times/ANN