SINGAPORE - A former Republic Polytechnic (RP) student admitted in a district court on Monday (Feb 8) that he had followed a 17-year-old female student into a toilet at the school in 2019 with the intention of insulting her modesty.
He was caught when he aimed a mobile phone at the student, who was in an adjacent cubicle. He had done a similar thing a year earlier, at Keat Hong Community Club in Choa Chu Kang.
On Monday, the Singaporean offender pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal trespass and one count of insulting a woman's modesty.
He cannot be named as he was 17 years old when he first committed the offences in 2018. The Children and Young Persons Act covers individuals below 18 years old.
The teenager, who is now 19 years old, had followed the RP student into an adjacent cubicle and placed his mobile phone over a partition wall. The victim was in a state of undress when she spotted the device, the court heard.
She slipped on her clothes, stepped out and waited for him to emerge from the toilet.
When confronted, the offender denied taking any of her photographs or videos. Deputy Public Prosecutor Kang Jia Hui said that no pictures or videos were recovered.
Despite this, he was detained and the police were alerted.
The other incident occurred at around 5.30pm on Nov 11, 2018. DPP Kang said that the teenager had followed a young girl into a toilet at the community club.
"He intended to peep at the young girl but changed his mind when he was in the cubicle as he was afraid of being caught. He then stayed in a cubicle in the female toilet," the DPP said.
When another 17-year-old girl entered the toilet about 15 minutes later, he placed his mobile phone over a partition wall.
The girl alerted the police at around 5.50pm that day.
DPP Kang told District Judge May Mesenas on Monday that the offender was suffering from "significant depression" during the offences.
She added: "His depression contributed significantly to his loss of impulse control and negative risk-taking behaviour at the time of the offences."
Defence lawyer Chong Xin Yi told the court that her client is remorseful and has since withdrawn from RP.
Judge Mesenas has called for a report to assess the teenager's suitability for a probation and he will be sentenced on April 5.
