Upskirter jailed after bystander spots him placing phone on his knee on escalator
Unsuccessful attempts at upskirt videos were found in the 34-year-old man's phone, but he admitted upon questioning to taking successful shots.
Photo illustration of a man taking upskirt photos. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
SINGAPORE: A man who was trying to take an upskirt shot of a woman on an escalator by placing his phone on his knee was spotted by a bystander.
The bystander reported the incident to the MRT control centre and the upskirter was nabbed a month later. Several videos of unsuccessful attempts at upskirting were found in his phone.
There were no successful takes in his phone, but the man admitted that he had been taking upskirt videos since late 2021 and confessed to a specific incident at Plaza Singapura.
Koh Chin Loon Eugene, 34, was sentenced to 28 weeks' jail on Wednesday (Jan 11).
He pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism, with another two charges taken into consideration.
The court heard that Koh was on an upriding escalator at Hougang MRT Station at about 11.30pm on Apr 9 last year.
A bystander spotted Koh standing two steps behind a 26-year-old woman. Koh placed his left leg on the step in front of him, before setting his handphone on his left knee and tilting the phone to point towards the bottom of the victim's skirt.
The witness observed Koh looking around while he was doing this.
The witness suspected Koh and reported the matter to the MRT control centre. The account was corroborated by closed-circuit television footage, and Koh was arrested at Compass One on May 10, 2022.
His handphone was seized and several videos appearing to be unsuccessful attempts at upskirt videos were discovered.
No successful upskirt videos were found in the phone. Koh said he would delete any successful videos immediately after viewing them.
He admitted that he had started taking upskirt videos since late November or December 2021. He said he took one to three videos a month on average, but was not able to recall the particulars of each incident.
When he was questioned further, Koh admitted another incident that took place on May 9, 2022, at an upriding escalator at Plaza Singapura.
He said he was standing two steps behind a woman when he filmed an upskirt video of her.
He said he took upskirt videos for the "adrenaline rush" and would target women in short dresses or skirts. He would take the videos whenever there was an opportunity during his commute.
The prosecutor asked for jail. This was not Koh's first time offending - he was convicted in 2019 for insulting women's modesty and was given jail.
Defence lawyer S S Dhillon asked for a second chance for Koh.
He said Koh is single, jobless and lives with his parents. He was previously a graphic designer.
"Eugene admits that he took upskirt videos more for the thrill of capturing the video and not for sexual satisfaction," said the lawyer.
"He did not watch the videos for sexual arousal. On hindsight, Eugene wished that he had exercised extreme prudence and not indulged in such despicable and deplorable acts," said Mr Dhillon.
He said his client realises that he "has a psychological weakness" and will strive to seek immediate help.
Mr Dhillon said Koh has a very close-knit family who came to court with him and that Koh is a good son and brother.
He is embarrassed for bringing shame to his family and feels he has let down his younger siblings, said the lawyer.
