Father who secretly took videos of his daughters showering, sexually abused one of them, sentenced to jail

SINGAPORE: A father who secretly took videos of both his daughters showering and sexually abused one of them was sentenced to three years and three months’ jail on Friday (Aug 22). 

The 46-year-old man, who cannot be named to avoid identifying his victims, engaged in sexual activities with his elder daughter multiple times from 2019 to 2023. He also secretly recorded videos of both his daughters, now aged 23 and 14, showering in the toilet on at least six different occasions over 11 days in 2024. 

He was also punished for secretly recording an explicit video of a third victim  – a 35-year-old Indonesian domestic helper whom he got to know through TikTok.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of incest against his elder daughter and three charges of voyeurism against his two daughters and his third victim. 

Another seven charges were taken into account.

Throughout the four years, his elder daughter had asked to stop engaging in sexual activities with him. The man continued to initiate them and she was reluctant to engage but still gave in, the court heard.

In 2023, the man told her not to tell others about their sexual activities. That same year, the elder daughter told her younger sister that their father had touched her inappropriately.

She instructed her sister not to tell others, including their mother, because she was worried about the consequences if the case came to light.

On two separate occasions in 2023, the man’s younger daughter also witnessed him pulling up her older sister’s pants from her thighs to the waist while the latter was asleep.

In February 2024, the man’s elder daughter divulged to a social worker that she was being abused by her father but refused to elaborate further. She also revealed that she had told her younger sister about the abuse, the court heard. 

In April that year, the social worker spoke to the younger sister, who confirmed what her older sister said and told the social worker about what she had witnessed. 

A police report was lodged against him on Apr 4, 2024. His phone was seized during investigations, where explicit videos of all three of his victims were discovered. It also confirmed 25 obscene films, the court heard. 

To record videos of his daughters showering, the man would place his phone in the toilet on video recording mode just before they went to shower. To avoid detection, the man downloaded an application that allowed his phone to look like it was not in video recording mode even though it was. 

“The mobile phone would be angled towards the bathing area in the bathroom to capture his daughters showering,” the court heard. 

At the time, his younger daughter was younger than 14 years old, and he secretly recorded videos of her five times.  

The man secretly recorded a video of his third victim while they were on a video call close to midnight on Jan 28, 2024. During the call, he asked the domestic helper to commit a sex act on camera for his viewing pleasure. 

She had told him not to record the video call before the call started and the man knew that she did not consent to the recording, the court heard. 

Without her consent, the man recorded eight minutes of the video call while she was fully naked, using the screen recording function on his own phone. 

The maximum sentence for incest with a close family relative is up to five years’ jail. 

For intentionally or knowingly recording another person doing a private act without their consent, the maximum penalty is a fine, caning or jail for up to two years.