SINGAPORE: A 23-year-old man who exposed his genitals to a cabin crew member during a flight to Singapore in January was sentenced to three week’s jail on Monday (Mar 24).
Indonesian national Brilliant Angjaya pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exposure.
The court heard that he was on a Singapore Airlines flight from China to Singapore on Jan 23. During the flight, he drank two glasses of champagne and was intoxicated before falling asleep.
After he awoke from his sleep, he went to the toilet to relieve himself, where he “suddenly” formed the intention to record a video of him exposing himself to someone and have the reaction recorded, according to court documents.
At about 4.45am, he returned to his seat and put his phone on recording mode, with the back camera pointing at the walkway. He then unzipped his jeans and covered his pants with a blanket, but left his genitals exposed.
Shortly after, the victim – who cannot be named due to a gag order – approached the man with his in-flight meal.
Shocked at seeing the offender’s exposed genitals, she looked in the opposite direction and quickly left the tray of food on the foldable table before leaving.
She noticed that a mobile phone was pointed at her and reported the incident to her supervisor.
When approached by the victim’s supervisor, Angjaya denied having recorded the incident. However, videos of the incident were found on his phone after the supervisor requested to check the device.
Airport police arrested him once the aircraft landed in Changi Airport, the police said earlier.
On Monday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Kai sought a sentence of between four and six weeks’ jail, noting that there were several aggravating factors including that the offence had been committed on board an aircraft and against a public transport worker.
Mr Ng added that the offender had also been intoxicated and had recorded the incident.
The defence sought a jail term of between two and three weeks, arguing that the level of harm from Angjaya’s offence was, at the most, on the low end of the moderate range as the duration of the offence was “fleeting”. The risk of harm to other passengers was low as he had been sitting in business class where he occupied a standalone seat which distanced him from other passengers.
Defence lawyer Navin Shamugaraj Thevar also argued that Angjaya’s culpability stood, at most, at the low end of the medium range as his intention was not to obtain sexual gratification.
In sentencing, District Judge Paul Quan said while the offence was fleeting and the risk to other passengers was low, the level of harm was moderate as the offence had been committed in an aircraft and against a public transport worker.
However, he noted that Angjaya had expressed remorse, cooperated during investigations and wrote an apology letter to the victim.
In his apology letter, which was read out in court by Mr Thevar on Monday, Angjaya said he deeply regretted what he did and that he was not in the “right state of mind” at the time.
He said that he had been “very sad and troubled” on the flight back home from studying in China as he had made a lot of good friends there and did not know when he might see them again.
For sexual exposure, Angjaya could have been jailed up to one year, a fine, or both.
