Man who filmed several men in SAFRA club house toilet gets jail, fine

SINGAPORE: A 24-year-old man who filmed several men in the nude or in swimming trunks in the toilet of the SAFRA Toa Payoh club house was on Tuesday (Sep 17) fined S$2,000 and jailed for 24 days.

Koh Kah Hock was studying at a local university at the time of the offences, which took place between January and June last year.

He pleaded guilty to seven charges, including making 17 obscene films and possessing 258 obscene films. Another 11 charges were taken into consideration.

Sometime in January 2018, Koh used his mobile phone to record three videos - lasting more than six minutes in total - of three different men dressed only in swimming trunks in the toilet's communal changing area.

That same month, he also took six videos of a man in a shower cubicle, capturing his face and naked body.

The offences continued until Jun 16 last year, when he was caught red-handed by one of the victims.

Koh had gone to the club house to swim at around 1pm that day, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Ho. After that, he saw four to five men in the toilet and had a sudden urge to record videos of them showering.

He took videos of two men in their cubicles before turning to a third, entering the cubicle next to the man and holding his phone out from the bottom of the cubicle.

The man saw this and tried to grab the mobile phone.

He later asked Koh to unlock his mobile phone. Koh persuaded the man not to expose him, but was taken to the lifeguard on duty. A security officer at the club house later called the police saying there was "one guy taking photos of guys in the toilet".

After Koh was arrested, police searched his home and seized a hard disk and laptop. They found 258 obscene films depicting naked men on the devices.

The prosecution had asked for four weeks' jail and a fine of S$2,000.

For making an obscene film, Koh could have been jailed for up to two years, fined between S$20,000 and S$40,000, or both.