Undergraduate gets 1.5-year treatment order for secretly filming women having sex with him
SINGAPORE — While having sex with women whom he knew through the dating application Tinder, a 26-year-old undergraduate decided to secretly film them without seeking their consent first.
When his victim spotted his phone's camera pointing towards them, he denied that the device was recording, but later asked her a few times if he could record them having sex.
On Monday (Dec 19), the man was sentenced to an 18-month mandatory treatment order — a community sentencing option offered to offenders suffering from mental conditions that contributed to the offence.
He had pleaded guilty to two charges of recording intimate videos without consent in late 2020. Two other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
A gag order was imposed over any details that could lead to the identification of the offender and his victims.
Giving his judgement on the case, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan on Monday noted that the man was earlier diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with a depressed mood.
The judge further noted that as a general principle, deterrence has a lesser role to play if an offender has a mental disorder, “particularly so if there was a causal relationship” between the disorder and the actions.
WHAT HAPPENED
The offender met his victims via dating app Tinder, the court heard.
On Oct 23 in 2020, the victim, an 18-year-old female, went to the man's university dormitory where they had consensual sex.
While having sex, the teenager realised that the man's camera was facing them. When asked, the offender denied that it was in recording mode. She then placed the device under a pillow before continuing.
Later that day, the man asked her a few times if he could record them having sex, to which she declined.
They went for dinner and the man asked the teenager to be his girlfriend, but she rejected him. He told her that he would no longer contact her if she rejected him.
Afterwards, the victim realised that the man had "unmatched" her from Tinder and she no longer had access to his Instagram account.
On two occasions sometime before and on Nov 15, 2020, the man had consensual sex with a 20-year-old student he met via Tinder at both of their university residences. He recorded both acts without the victim’s consent each time.
It was not indicated how his offences were discovered.
Following the sentence, the judge warned the man that he can be resentenced should he breach his mandatory treatment order conditions.
Anyone convicted of voyeurism can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or handed any combination of the three.
