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SINGAPORE – A student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) admitted to taking voyeuristic videos, including those of women showering on campus in 2019.
Joel Rasis Ismail, 27, pleaded guilty on Friday (September 11) to three counts of insulting a woman’s modesty and one of burglary.
Seven other similar charges will be taken into consideration during sentencing on Sept. 28 by District Judge Adam Nakhoda.
His victims cannot be identified due to a gag order to protect their identities.
Joel had previously stated on an online resume that he is a “budding architect” and was the top student in his high school.
The court documents establish that the NUS student was in a residence when he committed the crimes.
On two occasions in March last year, Joel went to the third level of the NUS Kuok Foundation House, which is part of the Raffles Hall student dormitory, to visit a friend. He went there despite knowing that it was zoned as a female-only flat and that men are not allowed in, Assistant District Attorney Andre Ong said.
Both times, he went to a bathroom on the same level to relieve himself, when he heard a woman enter an adjacent stall.
On one occasion, he placed his mobile phone in the space between the cubicle partition and the bathroom floor and videotaped the woman bathing, according to court documents.
“The defendant retained the video for a few days and watched it again for pleasure and to increase his libido,” DPP Ong said.
Two months later, Joel attacked again. He went to the ladies’ room on the sixth level, also zoned for women only, of the same building to film a schoolmate taking a shower.
The court heard that when it found that the video recording was “unsuccessful,” it took another video of the woman, but it was captured by her.
He fled to the third level to collect his clothes and change clothes before running back to his residence.
Police arrested Joel a few hours later after reviewing images from closed-circuit television cameras that captured his movements. Later he admitted his crimes.
DPP Ong said Joel had committed the crimes knowing of the public unrest caused by a similar incident that occurred at another residence in 2018.
That incident, in which a NUS fellow student filmed college student Monica Baey showering, prompted NUS to tighten security on its campuses and review its disciplinary and support frameworks.
Court documents also claim that Joel had recorded two videos up the skirt of a colleague at work during an internship in 2016.
Urging the court to impose a 12-week jail sentence and a $ 1,500 fine, DPP Ong said in his written submissions that the crimes were committed over three years and involved multiple victims.
“The criminal actions of the defendants increased in severity from filming videos under the skirts of unknown women in public places in May / June 2016 to recording videos of fellow NUS residents residing in the corridors of NUS showering naked in the women’s restroom in ‘women-only’ flats in March 2019, “the DPP said.
Joel’s attorney, Mr. Malcolm Tan, said in mitigation that his client was extremely cooperative with the police during the investigations.
Mr. Tan also said that he would request a report from the Institute of Mental Health on the likelihood that his client will relapse.
For every charge that insults a woman’s modesty, Joel can be jailed for up to one year and fined.
You can also be jailed for up to three months and / or fined up to $ 500 for criminal trespass.
In a statement on Friday, NUS said it had convened a board of discipline (BOD) in June 2019 to investigate the offense committed by the student in May of that year.
“The BOD imposed a series of disciplinary sanctions on Joel, including suspension for three semesters, mandatory counseling sessions and rehabilitation,” he said.
The university also said that he is currently serving the suspension and is not allowed on campus.
It will also look into whether there were other crimes that Joel had committed but which were not disclosed to the university.
“In the event that new information on other crimes is revealed in court proceedings, the NUS may summon another BOD to investigate these other crimes,” the university added.
“NUS has improved the disciplinary framework for crimes of sexual misconduct since June 2019, including suspension and expulsion, as well as security measures.”
The university said it is also providing greater support to victims of such crimes and has introduced training for all staff and students to build a culture of respect.
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