Recalcitrant teen gets jail, fine for making obscene videos

A student, who was charged in court last year after he unlawfully recorded multiple obscene videos of his male hostel mates, did not learn his lesson and went back to his old ways while out on bail.

Instead of keeping himself out of trouble, Tang Jiasheng, 19, secretly filmed a 23-year-old man who was showering at the hostel on March 10 this year. The man, who caught the Chinese national red-handed, shouted at the teenager before alerting the police.

Tang was sentenced on Monday to three months and two weeks' jail as well as a fine of $1,500. He will spend an additional one week behind bars if he is unable to pay the fine.

The teenager had pleaded guilty to five counts of voyeurism, two counts of making obscene films and one count of being in possession of obscene films.

Thirty-five other charges for similar offences were considered during sentencing.

Tang was a student of a private institution at the time of the offences. Details about the school and its hostel cannot be revealed due to a gag order to protect the victims' identities.

Tang started his crime spree in late 2019 when he filmed a male schoolmate who was showering.

He continued targeting other male students, and one of them alerted the hostel's management after he noticed somebody filming him with a mobile phone on Jan 19 last year.

A staff member confronted Tang three days later and discovered that he had 41 incriminating video clips in his possession, the court heard.

The police were notified and the teenager admitted to officers that he had been recording videos of his schoolmates since September 2019.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Kee En said: "He also admitted to Dr Lee Yu Wei of the Institute of Mental Health that he had been filming males at Victoria Junior College in 2019 until he was caught - but not reported to the police - and then attended the (private institution)."

Tang was charged in court last year and was out on bail when he targeted the 23-year-old man on March 10 this year.

Young offenders are usually sentenced to probation or reformative training. Offenders given the latter are detained in a centre and made to follow a strict regimen that includes foot drills and counselling.

DPP Chong, however, had urged the court to sentence Tang to jail, stressing that the teenager has "no local roots and cannot be a candidate for probation or reformative training".

Shaffiq Alkhatib

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 19, 2021, with the headline Recalcitrant teen gets jail, fine for making obscene videos. Subscribe