[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – A former lecturer at the Institute of Technical Education who took more than 300 video clips using a modified mini camera was sentenced Monday (December 7) to 32 weeks in jail.
Chia Teck Huat, 41, pleaded guilty on October 29 to three counts of insulting a woman’s modesty.
District Judge Adam Nakhoda considered another similar charge during sentencing.
The court had previously heard that Chia modified the mini cameras she bought online so they could be hidden in her laptop bag.
He plugged one of the cameras into a portable charger and held it so that it peeked out of the side of the bag.
Between July and October 2017, I was walking through shopping malls, like Plaza Singapura, looking for middle-aged office women in short skirts.
Following these women, he would place the camera under their dresses or skirts and record video clips.
Chia would then review the clips she filmed and copy those that successfully captured the victim’s underwear on her personal electronic devices.
A man who suspected Chia was taking pictures under her skirts made a police report on October 23, 2017, and Chia was arrested the same day.
The court documents indicate that 362 video clips were recovered from Chia’s tablet and USB memory, which were seized in a search of her home.
Of these, 314 were taken between July and October 2017, while another 21 were undated. The remaining clips could not be played.
On Monday, District Judge Nakhoda said Chia had “a high degree of planning and premeditation.”
He noted that the former speaker had purchased the minicams online in order to commit the crimes, and also experimented with setting up the camera in his laptop bag for “optimal positioning.”
However, the judge acknowledged that Chia had been diagnosed with voyeuristic and adjustment disorders, and had attended 34 counseling sessions to address her criminal behavior since her arrest. Nor has he relapsed.
For each of her crimes, Chia could have been jailed for up to a year, or a fine, or both.
[ad_2]
