Singapore school teacher jailed for taking 170 upskirt videos of colleagues and students

He served as discipline master at the school between 2015 and 2018

Representative: Activist in demonstration against violence and oppression of women (AFP via Getty Images)

A court in Singapore awarded more than 10 months of jail time to a secondary school teacher after he was found guilty of taking 170 upskirt videos of at least 47 people.

The identity of the 50-year-old convict and school cannot be disclosed due to a gag order aimed at protecting the survivors.

The man, who rose to the position of discipline master at the school in 2015, pleaded guilty in September last year to three counts of insulting a woman’s modesty, while five more charges were considered during the trial, reported Strait Times and Today Online.

As per the law, a person can be awarded a jail term of up to a year for outraging a woman’s modesty.

District judge Brenda Tan however noted that the man, employed in the school since 2008, had been suffering from a major depressive disorder and was found to be suitable to undergo mandatory treatment.

The judge made the opinion based on reports from Dr Stephen Phang from the Institute of Mental Health, who also observed that he retained the ability to make a choice to not commit the offense.

This finding as a result had little to no weight on his sentencing, noted the judge, adding that he is to undergo treatment in lieu of time in prison, reported the Strait Times.

The man’s lawyer Laurence Goh said that he intends to challenge the sentencing and was granted $11,200 bail pending the appeal.

Employed in the school since 2008, he was suspended a decade later, around the time one of the female teachers alerted the police about him taking upskirt videos.

He has been accused of targetting numerous women, including 38 of his colleagues between 2015 and 2018. He also recorded 12 videos of seven students, reported Today Online.

He would typically record the victims by calling them over his workstation for data-entry purposes and hold the phone underneath their dresses.

Police recovered at least 170 such videos from his computer’s hard drive, including that of his relative which were either saved with the victim’s initials or descriptions such as “Lift Girl” if he did not know their name.