Man jailed, caned for filming 13-year-old daughter changing clothes with spy cam

SINGAPORE: A 43-year-old man was sentenced to 18 weeks' jail and one stroke of the cane on Wednesday (Apr 20) for secretly filming his 13-year-old daughter undressing in her bedroom.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, had earlier admitted to planting a spy camera in her room to record videos of her changing into her school uniform twice in 2020.

He had pleaded guilty to two charges of voyeurism. Another similar charge was also considered for sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Ong sought 16 to 18 weeks' jail and one to two strokes of the cane, highlighting that the victim was the man's own young, biological daughter and that he made repeated attempts to record her.

Mr Ong also pointed out that the two videos the man admitted to filming were of significant lengths, at more than 20 minutes each.

Defence lawyer Ashvin Hariharan asked for 16 weeks' jail with no caning, saying that his client was genuinely remorseful.

He also argued that the man's plea of guilt had saved judicial resources and spared the victim the ordeal of testifying and recounting the incidents.

In response, the prosecution said that a sentence of caning was warranted in this case given the "graver" abuse of trust, as the offender is the victim's father.

Mr Ong also said that little weight should be given to the man's plea of guilt in considering whether to lighten his sentence, as there was a "mountain of evidence" against him and he had "no choice".

The offender's face was clearly identifiable in video footage captured when he went to adjust the spy camera.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court previously heard that the man bought a spy camera resembling a USB charger sometime before July 2019.

The device was able to transmit real-time footage to linked mobile phones in the vicinity, and allow the footage to be recorded on the phones.

Early in the morning of Jul 6, 2020, the offender decided to covertly record the victim in her bedroom. He knew that she would be in a state of undress as she needed to change into her school uniform.

He planted the spy camera in a corner of the bedroom, ensuring that the transmitted video feed was stable and twice adjusting the direction of the spy camera.

About 10 minutes after the offender left the room, the victim entered her bedroom, undressed and left to take a shower.

After returning from her shower, she put on her school uniform then left the room again.

The spy camera recorded footage of her without her knowledge throughout this process.

The man retrieved the device from her bedroom shortly after, and transferred the footage to his laptop and mobile phone.

He repeated this the next morning, taking care to switch off the lights in the bedroom after planting the camera to minimise the chances of it being discovered.

The offences came to light when the man's wife discovered videos of her daughter in various states of undress while using her husband's laptop on Aug 2, 2020.

She made a police report on Aug 21 that year, saying that she had found about 155 such videos on the laptop, with timestamps between July 2019 and Jul 8, 2020.

These included footage of the victim recorded with a camera positioned below the sink in the household's bathroom.

During investigations, the man denied the allegations and claimed the spy camera was to monitor the victim studying in her bedroom.

However, no footage of her studying was discovered during investigations.

For each charge of voyeurism, the man could have been jailed up to two years and fined or caned.