Probation for youth who pointed mobile phone camera at girl showering during camp in school

Posed photo of a hand holding a mobile phone over a partition. No video of the girl was found on the device later. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - A 20-year-old youth who pointed his mobile phone camera at a girl while she was taking a shower during a camp in a secondary school was sentenced on Wednesday (Feb 5) to 18 months' probation.

He must remain indoors from 10pm to 6am every day and perform 100 hours of community service.

His parents were also bonded for $5,000 to ensure his good behaviour.

In December last year, the youth pleaded guilty in court to one count of insulting the girl's modesty.

His name as well as details of the school, located in the northern part of Singapore, cannot be revealed due to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim, who was 19 at the time.

The Straits Times understands that the youth was not a student of the school when he committed the offence.

The court heard that he was at an overnight camp for a uniformed group at the school on Nov 19, 2018, when he decided to enter a women's toilet to play a "prank" on the teenage girl, who was showering at around 2.20am that day.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Yonghui told District Judge Seah Chi-Ling: "After entering the toilet, the accused stood outside the victim's cubicle and raised his handphone above the door with the camera facing into the cubicle.

"The victim immediately shouted out in alarm upon seeing the handphone and the accused fled from the toilet."

The girl told a camp safety officer about what had happened and the offender later confessed that he was the one who had held his mobile phone above the cubicle door.

No video of the girl was found on the device later.

Offenders convicted of insulting a woman's modesty can be jailed for up to a year and fined.

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