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SINGAPORE – A staff member at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) repeatedly abused the trust placed in him when he sexually abused patients and insulted the modesty of his colleagues at their workplace.
He even recorded videos of himself sexually abusing his victims. The 36-year-old Singaporean also shot upskirt videos, including at the Canberra MRT station.
He no longer works at IMH and his details cannot be released due to a gag order to protect the identities of the victims.
He was sentenced on Monday (December 28) to four years, nine months and a week in jail, with 10 strokes of the cane, after pleading guilty to four counts of insulting a woman’s modesty.
He also admitted to two counts of sexual abuse and voyeurism.
During the sentencing another thirty-four charges for similar crimes were considered.
He was at work on September 6 of last year when he saw a 25-year-old female patient alone in a room, immobilized in a hospital bed.
He sexually abused the woman and recorded a video of himself committing the crime.
The court heard that he committed similar acts against a 29-year-old patient on November 21 of last year.
He also targeted his colleagues and recorded videos of them changing inside the cubicles late last year.
On one occasion last December, he recorded a video under the skirt of a colleague while making his rounds in a courtroom, the court heard.
Even pregnant women were not spared.
He posted a bogus advertisement on the Carousell online marketplace, claiming that pregnant women would receive $ 10 for a “pregnancy photo shoot” for a supposed IMH performance.
A 26-year-old woman responded and he recorded her videos up her skirt during the photoshoot near Chinese Gardens on December 13 last year while she was not watching.
On different occasions in February this year, the man used his mobile phone to record videos of two patients taking a shower.
His crimes came to light on March 2 of this year.
A 26-year-old woman was riding an escalator at the Canberra MRT station around 7.40am that day when she felt something touch her calf.
She turned around and saw the man standing behind her with a phone in his left hand.
The woman filed a police report that morning and officers arrested her at the IMH two days later.
Two mobile phones were confiscated and the incriminating videos were found on the devices after a forensic investigation.
On Monday, Assistant District Attorney Thiagesh Sukumaran urged District Judge Luke Tan to sentence the man to four years and 10 months in jail with 13 strokes of the baton.
The DPP added: “His despicable conduct in committing numerous sexual crimes against his colleagues and the patients he had promised to care for, attacks the very spirit of nursing and threatens to taint and seriously spoil the efforts of healthcare workers in all parts “.
The man was represented by attorneys Mato Kotwani and Ashwin Ganapathy, who said they had diagnosed him with a voyeuristic disorder.
The lawyers asked that their client be given a lighter sentence, adding: “Although the IMH report indicated that there was no link that contributed to his disorder and his crime, we affirm that this remains relevant to some extent.”
For each count of sexual abuse, an offender can be imprisoned for up to two years and fined or punished.
For each count of insulting a woman’s modesty, an offender can be jailed for up to one year and fined.
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