Jail for man who used spy camera to video women
TODAY File Photo
SINGAPORE — He would tail female colleagues to the washroom and video them using a mini-USB spy camera placed at the gap under the cubicle doors.
Raymond Loh’s acts went undetected for more than a year until one of his victim’s caught the former research assistant with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) red-handed after luring him into the toilet.
On Monday (April 17), Loh, 31, was sentenced to six months and two weeks’ jail, after pleading guilty to eight out of 468 charges of insulting the modesty of various women and criminal trespass into the female toilet at the Connexis building in one-north. The remaining 460 charges were taken into consideration in sentencing him.
The court heard that Loh had, on hundreds of occasions, taken upskirt videos and photos of women at various locations — including the toilets at his workplace in Connexis, escalators in MRT stations, and supermarkets — using a spy camera which he had bought online for such activities.
He would name these files after the victims’ names if he knew them, or with descriptive language, such as “big thigh” or “chio girl”, then save them in his work desktop for his viewing pleasure.
A total of 460 upskirt kirt videos and 20 upskirt photos were found in the computer during investigations.
Loh’s offences went undetected from sometime in 2015 until February 15 last year, when one of his victims lodged a police report. The victim said she had seen Loh entering the female toilet after her on several occasions and lurking around the cubicle while she was still inside it. The last of these occasions was on Jan 25 last year, when she caught him in the act, the court was told.
A*Star terminated Loh’s services on Feb 12 last year.
Seeking a sentence of 26 weeks’ jail, the prosecution charged that Loh had violated the privacy of numerous victims for more than a year, and should not be considered a first offender.
Arguing that Loh’s offences involved a “high degree of planning and premeditation”, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ho Lian-Yi noted that the accused had carried the spy camera with him “waiting to commit his offences whenever an opportunity presents itself”. He also chose a miniature device to evade detection.
While Loh has been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, his mental condition did not rob him of self-control, said DPP Ho.
“He knew what he did was wrong. There is no evidence whatsoever that he had been subject to any uncontrollable impulse,” said the DPP.
Loh could have been jailed for up to a year and/or fined for each charge of insulting a woman’s modesty. For criminal trespass, he could have been jailed three months’ and/or fined S$1,500 per charge.
