Man admits molesting girl on bus after being exposed to such pornography

SINGAPORE: A 21-year-old man molested a teenage girl who was sleeping on a bus, after being exposed to violent pornography showing such a situation.

After he was nabbed, investigations revealed that he had also trespassed into a women's toilet to take illicit videos while he was interning at a company.

Ang Zi You, now 23, pleaded guilty on Monday (Nov 14) to one charge each of molestation, trespass and voyeurism. Another five charges will be considered in sentencing.

The court heard that the 16-year-old victim was taking a bus home at about 4.20pm on Mar 8 last year.

She sat down on the upper deck of the bus and fell asleep.

Ang was on the same bus and noticed the victim, the court heard. He had been exposed to violent pornography which showed girls being molested on a bus, the prosecutor said.

Ang fantasised about molesting girls on a bus and attempted to do this, although he knew it was wrong, added the prosecutor.

Ang switched his seats to sit directly behind the sleeping girl. He then tried to touch her by slotting his hand in between the two seats in front of him, but failed.

He waited for a while before trying again to touch the girl by slipping his hand between the window and the seat. He managed to touch the girl's body and retracted his hand before repeating his actions.

The girl woke up when she felt a touch on the left side of her body, moving from her chest to waist. She did not turn back to check as she "felt unsure" and instead dozed off again, court documents stated.

However, when she felt the same touch again seconds later, the girl immediately turned to her left.

She saw Ang retracting his hand and putting his head down to look at his phone.

The victim then went to the lower deck of the bus to inform the driver of the incident. The driver stopped the bus and went up to the upper deck to ask Ang why he had touched the victim.

Ang denied his actions, and the girl moved to sit on the lower deck. A few minutes later, Ang also went down to the lower deck. 

The bus driver told him not to alight, and a police report was made. Ang was arrested that same day.

During investigations, a check on Ang's phone revealed videos showing a woman using the toilet.

A probe revealed that Ang had been interning with a company from September 2019 to February 2020.

He was in the office on Feb 7, 2020, when he noticed a female colleague walking towards the toilet. He followed her, intending to record her using the toilet as he knew there were no closed-circuit television cameras near the toilet.

He recorded the victim using the toilet by placing his phone in the gap between the cubicle wall and the floor. He repeated this several times, capturing video footage of his own face in the process.

Defence lawyer S S Dhillon said his client's mother passed away about 11 years ago, and Ang lives with his grandmother. His father is unemployed.

He said Ang was "sincerely remorseful" and cited a private psychiatric report which said Ang had persistent depressive disorder since primary school.

He said Ang has not reoffended since he was placed on antidepressant medication and went for counselling sessions.

The judge called for reports assessing Ang's suitability for both probation and a community service order, and adjourned sentencing to January.