An undergraduate who took 469 upskirt and upshirt videos of 335 women over about six months was sentenced to nine months and three weeks' jail last Wednesday.
Shaun Ho Yan Liang, 26, struck between February and July in 2018 at various locations, including the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus, where he was studying psychology.
He pleaded guilty on Sept 16 to two charges of insulting the women's modesty, as well as one charge of being in possession of obscene videos.
District Judge Adam Nakhoda referred to Ho's crimes as an "offending spree" during sentencing.
He said Ho's crimes were premeditated since he "targeted victims in the appropriate clothing" before filming them in a "brazen manner".
The judge noted that while Ho seemed like a "bright individual", his academic qualifications were not relevant in this case.
Ho's crimes came to light when he was caught in the act at a FairPrice outlet at Eastpoint Mall in Simei on July 22, 2018.
He followed a woman in denim shorts and a loose white T-shirt around the supermarket, recording videos of her.
He took 10 videos of her by standing or squatting directly behind her and positioning his phone below the waist level or close to ground level, with the rear camera of the phone pointed upwards to film upshirt or upskirt videos.
The woman's boyfriend caught Ho with his phone pointed under her T-shirt and reported the incident to the store's security officer.
The authorities later found 459 other videos of female victims on Ho's phone shot between Feb 2 and July 22 in 2018.
On each occasion, Ho targeted women wearing shorts or skirts whom he found attractive. He would use his phone to record videos of the women's breasts, undershirt or crotch by standing or squatting close to them.
Among the places he struck were a laboratory of the National Institute of Education's School of Science, and an overhead bridge and a student activity centre in NTU.
Ho would even record the videos of his victims during lessons at NTU.
The authorities also found 106 obscene and pornographic videos on his laptop.
Ho's lawyer Cheryl Sim of Regent Law noted that Ho had attended numerous counselling sessions over the past two years.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh reiterated that Ho's "voyeurism does not deprive him of self-control".
Addressing the court, Ho said he felt "a very huge sense of relief" after being caught and that he "owes apologies to all the people (he) has hurt". He also urged other offenders to "seek help as soon as possible (and not to) hurt any more people".
On Sept 16, a spokesman for NTU said Ho is still a student there, although he no longer attended classes. He will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.
