SINGAPORE: To experience a “thrill”, a teenager went to different public toilets in Singapore over seven months and secretly took images of male victims using the loo.
He went undetected and amassed 97 pictures of 28 victims until he was caught in the act by a father who was using a toilet at Parkway Parade with his three-year-old son.
The culprit, now 20, was sentenced to 18 months’ probation on Thursday (Aug 22).
He cannot be named as he was under 18 when he committed some of the offences and is therefore protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.
He is prohibited from using devices with cameras unless his probation officer or case worker assesses otherwise, and has to attend a treatment programme targeting his sexual offending.
The young man will also have to perform 60 hours of community service.
THE CASE
The court heard that the Singaporean was 17 or 18 at the time of the offences between May and December in 2021.
He was a student and worked part-time at a shop in Parkway Parade.
Between May 7, 2021 and Dec 11, 2021, the teen entered public toilets and used his mobile phone to take photos of 28 unknown male victims using the toilet.
He would go into the cubicle next to the one his victim was using, and hold his phone at the top of the wall separating the cubicles to take photos of the target.
He did not target specific victims but took the photos “to experience the thrill of doing so”.
At about 7.10pm on Dec 11, 2021, a 39-year-old man took his three-year-old son to the toilet at basement 1 of Parkway Parade.
They entered a cubicle together, with the teenager in an adjacent cubicle.
He held his phone at the top of the wall and took four photos of the father and son using the toilet.
However, the father saw what happened and sought help from a passing security guard.
Together, they detained the teenager, who was arrested by the police.
They seized his phone and found a total of 101 images of 30 male victims – including the father and son – in it.
As part of his sentence, the offender will have to remain indoors from 11pm until 6am unless he obtains permission for an exception.
His uncle and aunt-in-law furnished a bond of S$5,000 to ensure his good behaviour during probation.
