Teen admits taking upskirt photos and videos of victims at various places, including his school
Shaffiq Alkhatib The Straits Times June 30, 2020
A 14-year-old boy was in school in 2018 when he used his mobile phone to snap an upskirt picture of his female classmate.
The teenager committed similar offences later that year, targeting other victims at various places, including an MRT station.
He then shared the images with his schoolmates through WhatsApp.
The Filipino boy, who is now 16, pleaded guilty in a district court on Tuesday (June 30) to three counts of insulting a woman's modesty.
Four other similar charges will be considered during sentencing.
His name and that of his school are not revealed to protect his victims' identities.
The Singapore permanent resident was on duty as an IT monitor in his school at around 8am on April 5, 2018, when he targeted his classmate.
Two weeks later, he was travelling on a public bus when he used his phone to record an upskirt video of a woman who was sitting across from him.
The boy struck again on Aug 18 that year when he targeted a woman on an escalator at an unknown MRT station.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Ti-Ting said the boy shared the upskirt pictures and videos with 10 boys from his school via a WhatsApp group.
Two schoolmates later told their teacher that the offender had taken an upskirt video of a fellow student. It was not stated if the pair were part of the group.
On Oct 16, 2018, two teachers called the boy up for questioning and he admitted his offences.
The school's vice-principal alerted the police three days later.
The DPP said the police seized the boy's laptop.
The upskirt photos and videos were found on it as they had been automatically synced when he charged his phone using the laptop.
On Tuesday, Deputy Principal District Judge Seah Chi-Ling called for a report to assess the teenager's suitability for a probation. He will be sentenced on Aug 14.
For each count of insulting a woman's modesty, an offender can be jailed for up to a year and fined.
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