School discipline master took upskirt videos

A secondary school discipline master broke the law at his workplace when he took multiple upskirt videos of his colleagues and at least seven students.

The married man, a father of three, also committed the offence at other places, including his mother-in-law's home, where he targeted a female relative.

Over more than three years, he took a total of 170 upskirt videos of at least 47 different victims.

The 49-year-old man pleaded guilty on Friday to three counts of insulting a woman's modesty.

Details about the teacher and the school cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect the victims' identities.

The Ministry of Education told The Straits Times in an earlier statement that the man has been suspended from service since July 2018.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon said that between April 18, 2015, and July 11, 2018, the man filmed multiple upskirt videos of numerous women, targeting at least 38 of his colleagues.

To commit the offences, he would set his mobile phone to video-recording mode before inviting a female colleague to his workstation for data entry purposes.

While she was standing at his desk and keying in data, such as attendance records, he would place the device under her skirt and record a video without her knowledge or consent.

By using a similar method, the man also filmed multiple upskirt videos of several students.

DPP Poon told District Judge Brenda Tan: "At least seven of the victims were students of the secondary school, which means that they would have been aged 16 or below and especially vulnerable to his predation.

"In committing the offences, the accused exploited their deference to his authority, as well as the trust that their parents reposed in the school and its faculty."

The man's offences came to light when one of the victims, a female teacher, suspected that he had been taking upskirt videos and alerted the police on July 14, 2018.

On Friday, the court heard that the man was suffering from major depressive disorder at the time of his offences.

Judge Tan called for a report to assess his suitability for a mandatory treatment order (MTO).

Those given an MTO undergo treatment for their mental condition in lieu of jail time.

The man is expected to be sentenced on Nov 3.

For each count of insulting a woman's modesty, an offender can be jailed for up to a year and fined.