SINGAPORE - A 29-year-old man who unlawfully took more than 100 pieces of female underwear was on Monday (Aug 29) made to undergo one-year of psychiatric treatment, under a Mandatory Treatment Order (MTO).
Lee Chan Hoe, an air-con repair man, pleaded guilty to one charge of fraudulent possession of property and one count of dishonest misappropriation of property.
He admitted to two other charges of dishonest misappropriation of property. These counts were taken into consideration in sentencing.
A community court heard that Lee left his Bedok North Street 3 flat early on February 5.
He went to a neighbour's flat on another floor and took a purplish pink bra off a clothes rank outside the flat.
At about 4.30am, an occupant of the flat looked outside his unit and saw Lee lying face down on the floor along the corridor.
Lee then got up and knelt on the floor with the bra in his hands.
He then lay down on the floor again and sniffed the bra for a while, before he got up, placed the bra back on the clothing rack and walked away.
The occupant called the police.
Lee was arrested at the void deck shortly after and brought back to his flat.
Police found a total of 55 bras and 51 panties in his room.
Lee said he had picked them up over the past year, as he had developed a liking for collecting female undergarment.
Investigations revealed that Lee had filched three of the bras and two of the panties from another HDB block near his home as he was returning home from work in March 2015.
The next month, he unlawfully took two bras and one panty from the same neighbourhood.
In May 2015, he also unlawfully took two bras from the same area.
The maximum penalty for fraudulent possession of property is a $3,000 fine and one year's jail.
The maximum punishment for dishonest misappropriation of property is two year's jail and a fine.
Implemented in 2010, the MTO is a community sentencing option for offenders suffering from mental conditions which have contributed to their committing the offence.
Offenders will not be committed to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), but must attend compulsory treatment sessions with psychiatrists, which the Health Ministry and IMH will take care of.
Treatment is usually paid for by offenders, unless they are financially incapable.
