National Dental Centre photographer assigned to capture patients' jaws shot over 600 chest photos instead

SINGAPORE: Over about three years, a photographer at the National Dental Centre of Singapore (NDCS) shot over 600 voyeuristic photos of 25 patients, collating the shots in a catalogue and sometimes matching them with faces he obtained from the internal system.

Elgin Ng, a 29-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Nov 18) to nine charges, including voyeurism, distributing voyeuristic images and unauthorised computer access. Another 21 charges will be considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Ng's primary role at the NDCS was to take photos of the teeth and jaws of patients who were scheduled for jaw surgery.

Dentists who needed such photos would lodge a request on NDCS' electronic dental records system before instructing their patient to wait outside the photography room.

Ng would be stationed in the room and could call the patient in after receiving the request. He would confirm their identity and take photos solely of their facial region, primarily around their teeth and jaw.

For added modesty, Ng was required to provide the patient with a blue board to cover their chest, regardless of gender.

For female patients, Ng was required either to have a female staff member present to assist, or to keep the room's curtains open.

HOW HE DID IT

From June 2021 to May 2024, when Ng's colleague was not around, he took unauthorised voyeuristic photos of girls and women he found attractive.

He would note down the names of such patients whom he found attractive, or who wore clothing that revealed cleavage.

If the patient was scheduled to have photos taken, Ng would take the required photos and additional voyeuristic photos of the victim's cleavage.

These were described in court documents either as "top-down" images or "bottom-up" images capturing the bottom of the victim's chest.

If the patient had not been scheduled for photography, Ng would approach them and lie that their dentist had requested for photos.

During the sessions, Ng did not give the blue board to the victims and kept the curtains closed. He would surreptitiously arrange the cameras in positions prohibited by the NDCS and later transfer the photos to his personal thumb drive.

He also accessed NDCS' internal system to download photos of the victim's faces, as he wanted to match them to the voyeuristic shots he took.

Ng also obtained contact details of some victims for "personal consumption" or to contact them for unscheduled photo-taking sessions, the prosecutor said.

Ng organised the contents in his thumb drive by creating folders with the victims' names, with each folder containing photos of their faces along with the chest shots.

As a result, he was able to assemble a catalogue of the victims, identifying them by their names and profile photos, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin.

In total, he took over 600 voyeuristic photos of 25 victims aged between 13 and 38 for "personal sexual gratification", said Mr Bin.

On at least two occasions, Ng also sent some of the voyeuristic images to his friend on Telegram.

His ruse was uncovered when one of the victims, an 18-year-old who had 31 voyeuristic photos taken of her, made a complaint in April 2024. She said she was being repeatedly called down for multiple photography sessions, even though her doctor had not made such an order.

NDCS commenced a formal inquiry into Ng's conduct and arranged for him to provide his version of events over two days in May 2024. However, Ng resigned before this and failed to attend both inquiry sessions. 

NDCS later lodged a police report.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

Mr Bin sought at least two years and five months' jail for Ng, saying he abused his position as a public healthcare worker to "satisfy his own perverse desires".

He said there was a high degree of premeditation and planning, and Ng was "extremely persistent", evading detection by resigning before the inquiry.

Mr Bin said the sentence sought is "heavy" but appropriate. Even though Ng had no prior conviction, Mr Bin said there were over 20 voyeurism offences across all his charges. He pointed to the repeated nature of offending over a protracted period of time.

Defence lawyer Low Chun Yee sought 14 months and three weeks' jail instead, saying 29 months is "too crushing" a sentence.

Mr Low said his client is genuinely remorseful and has pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.

He has a clean record and family support, and has been gainfully employed while waiting for his case to conclude, said Mr Low.

"We're looking at clothed cleavage," said the lawyer, adding that his client had used no "hidden devices".

"We also submit that bottom-up angles are less invasive than top-down shots. It's an area that members of the public can see," said Mr Low.

He added that the victims are to be compared against the "thousands of patients" Ng saw, saying the victim count "is low" compared with the number of people he photographed.

The judge responded that Ng picked his victims.

In response, Mr Bin said the only way the public can see the "bottom-up" angles is if "they go right up underneath" the victim and stare up at them.

The judge said he needed time to review the case and adjourned sentencing to December.

In a statement to CNA on Tuesday, NDCS said it conducted thorough internal investigations and lodged a police report.

"Protecting the safety, privacy and data of our patients is of paramount importance to us," said the spokesperson.

"The individual is no longer under NDCS' employment. We take a serious view of data breach incidents and regret the distress caused due to the ex-employee's misconduct. We have been in touch with affected patients and their family members to offer our support and assistance," she added.

"While there are existing protocols in place for dental photography, we have further tightened the photography process with chaperones present with patients, and more regular audits of access to dental records, following this incident," said the NDCS spokesperson.

For voyeurism, an offender can be jailed up to two years, or fined, or caned, or any combination of the penalties.

For distributing voyeuristic images, an offender can be jailed up to five years, or fined, or caned, or any combination of the penalties.

For accessing data without authority, an offender can be fined up to S$5,000 (US$3,900) or jailed up to two years, or both.