Trio preyed on women in school toilets in separate cases

Tee Ze Qian followed his Republic Poly schoolmate into a toilet and attempted to insult her modesty. Zachary Lim Yong Hao was a junior college student when he committed his offences at NUS last year.
Zachary Lim Yong Hao was a junior college student when he committed his offences at NUS last year.
Tee Ze Qian followed his Republic Poly schoolmate into a toilet and attempted to insult her modesty. Zachary Lim Yong Hao was a junior college student when he committed his offences at NUS last year.
Tee Ze Qian followed his Republic Poly schoolmate into a toilet and attempted to insult her modesty.

In separate incidents, three male students targeted women in different tertiary institutions, preying on them in toilets.

Two of them - Pham Nguyen Tuan Anh, a student at Nanyang Technological University, and Zachary Lim Yong Hao, who was then studying in a junior college - also insulted the modesty of their victims.

The third offender, Republic Polytechnic (RP) student Tee Ze Qian, followed his schoolmate into a toilet and attempted to insult her modesty.

All three pleaded guilty to their offences yesterday. The victims in the cases cannot be named owing to gag orders to protect their identities.

Anh, 23, has been sentenced to eight weeks' jail and fined $2,000. The Vietnamese admitted to one count each of insulting a woman's modesty and being in possession of obscene films.

One of his female schoolmates entered a male toilet on campus at around 10.15pm on April 17 last year to take a shower. Anh followed her inside.

Court documents did not state why she did not use the female toilet.

As she was showering, he entered an adjacent cubicle and used his mobile phone to record her in the nude.

The woman knocked against a wall partition when she spotted the device and Anh fled the scene before deleting the video.

Police detained Anh on April 25 last year and officers seized his electronic devices. Four obscene films were later found on them.

In an unrelated case, the court heard that Lim was a junior college student when he committed his offences.

Court documents did not reveal details about his school, and he is now waiting to begin his national service.

Yesterday, the 18-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal trespass and insulting a woman's modesty.

On March 17 last year, he went to a female toilet at the National University of Singapore (NUS) around 3.40pm and occupied one of the cubicles.

A 22-year-old woman entered an adjacent cubicle about an hour later, the court heard.

The woman looked up and was shocked to see Lim's face peering down at her.

She immediately left the toilet and returned at around 5.40pm with security officers.

But Lim had left the toilet by then. The woman lodged a police report five days later.

On May 5 last year, Lim returned to NUS and again entered a female toilet.

Two security officers caught him red-handed while he was inside, and the police were notified.

District Judge May Mesenas has called for a report to assess Lim's suitability for probation.

In the third case, Tee, 18, pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal trespass and attempting to insult a woman's modesty.

The Singaporean entered a female toilet at RP's swimming complex on April 30 last year to try to watch a schoolmate in a shower cubicle.

When the woman left the cubicle to retrieve something, she spotted him standing outside.

He told her that he had entered the toilet by mistake and left. The polytechnic's discipline master alerted the police on May 2 last year.

In an earlier statement, RP told The Straits Times that Tee has been suspended since that month.

District Judge Kan Shuk Weng has called for a report to assess Tee's suitability for probation.

Tee and Lim were each offered bail of $5,000 yesterday. Tee will be sentenced on March 23, while Lim's sentencing will take place three days later.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 28, 2020, with the headline Trio preyed on women in school toilets in separate cases. Subscribe