Pastor jailed eight weeks for taking upskirt videos of women

South Korean mostly preyed on victims at MRT stations

A South Korean pastor who crept up on unsuspecting women to record 12 upskirt videos was jailed for eight weeks yesterday.

Jo Hang Jun, 33, who worked at Immanuel Mission Church in Singapore, pleaded guilty to five counts of insulting a woman's modesty.

Seven other charges for similar offences were considered during sentencing.

The court heard that he also had 127 obscene films and 27 uncertified ones in his possession.

The first offence occurred at around 7pm on Dec 17 last year when Jo used his mobile phone to record an upskirt video of a woman at an unknown location.

About 90 minutes later, he was walking along an underground walkway at Braddell MRT station when he spotted a woman wearing a blue skirt in front of him.

Jo turned on the recording mode of his mobile phone camera, then followed the woman up an escalator. He took an upskirt video while standing behind her.

On Dec 19 and Dec 20 last year, he recorded four upskirt videos of women at different locations, including Bishan MRT station and a supermarket in the Nex mall in Serangoon Central.

The court heard that he recorded five clips at Newton and Rochor MRT stations between 4.30pm and 5.45pm on Dec 29 last year.

Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew said that Jo was in a Downtown Line train at around 6.20pm that day when he spotted his sixth victim.

He followed the 39-year-old woman when she alighted at Bugis station and stood behind her on an ascending escalator.

A 30-year-old man saw Jo making the recording, the court heard.

DPP Chew said: "The witness immediately grabbed the accused's shoulder and asked him what he was doing. The accused immediately turned off the recording mode and the entire footage, lasting a total of 12 seconds, was saved into his phone."

The man alerted the victim and the pair took Jo to the control station. They reported the incident to the station master and the police were called.

For each count of insulting a woman's modesty, Jo could have been jailed for up to a year and fined.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 21, 2017, with the headline Pastor jailed eight weeks for taking upskirt videos of women. Subscribe