Jail for SAF regular who recorded upskirt videos of at least 13 girls

A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) regular stalked schoolgirls in uniform and recorded at least 28 upskirt videos between September and October 2020.

Yesterday, Poh Yu Jian, 30, pleaded guilty to voyeurism and was jailed for 20 weeks. He filmed at least 13 girls and would catch them at locations such as overhead bridges near schools, where he followed them with his camera as they climbed the stairs.

He was caught red-handed by a 15-year-old girl who saw him filming her on an escalator at an MRT station.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Etsuko Lim told the court that Poh had filmed the girls in the hope of seeing their private parts.

The offences took place at MRT stations, and on overhead bridges and double-decker buses. Each time, he would tail his victims closely and hold his phone at his waist level and take a video, with his camera pointing upwards.

On Oct 15, 2020, Poh saw a 15-year-old girl in her school uniform alighting from a train at Stevens MRT station around 7.30am. He filmed an upskirt video of her by standing behind her on an escalator that was travelling upwards.

The girl felt someone brush the back of her knee while on the escalator and saw that the accused was recording an upskirt video of her.

She reported the matter to her teacher, who called the police.

Poh was arrested on Oct 17.

Each of the 28 videos recorded by Poh captured the victims' shorts or thighs and all of the victims were in school uniform.

The DPP added that three of the 13 or more victims were identified and that two of them were 14 and 15 years old at the time. The age of the third victim was not mentioned in court documents.

Poh had also installed an application on his phone to save screenshots and shorter clips of each upskirt video for ease of viewing.

The DPP said: "He concealed his (offences) by storing all the upskirt videos, as well as multiple obscene films, in a secure password-protected folder on his phone."

Urging District Judge Jasvender Kaur to sentence Poh to 20 to 22 weeks in jail, DPP Lim said: "There is a strong public interest in ensuring that millions of commuters can travel safely each day, without having to suffer the indignity of having their privacy invaded."

Seeking a 16-week jail term for Poh, defence lawyer Gloria James said the accused had worked under immense stress during the time of the offences, balancing his duties with his schoolwork as a part-time university student.

If he is found to have breached his contract with the SAF, Poh may have to pay $87,000 as a penalty for breaking his bond, she added.

Judge Kaur said she agreed with the prosecution that there were aggravating factors in Poh's case, while noting his early plea of guilt and steps taken to seek psychiatric treatment.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said yesterday: "Military Expert 2 Poh had earlier been suspended from all duties in the SAF.

"With his conviction in court, Mindef and the SAF will further review his case and take appropriate action against him, which may include discharging him from regular service."

Poh could have been jailed for up to two years, with caning and a fine.