Charges against NUS student who reportedly filmed kids in toilet were withdrawn: police on CNA report
SINGAPORE — Charges against a National University of Singapore (NUS) student who reportedly filmed children in a toilet multiple times were withdrawn, the police said on Tuesday (30 April).
In a statement to clarify a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) report that the alleged voyeur was given a 24-month conditional warning in lieu of prosecution, police said that the accused was charged in court for four counts of insulting the modesty of a woman and one count of criminal trespass.
The case involved an NUS student who committed the offences at a toilet in a shopping mall – and not within the premises of NUS – within a span of two consecutive days in 2015, and not “between 2015 and 2016”, the police pointed out.
The accused was caught red-handed and arrested by the police at the scene on the second day.
Furthermore, they explained that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) directed the police to withdraw the charges against the NUS student given that the accused was receiving treatment from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
“His doctors gave a report on his condition. It was assessed, among other factors, that he needed mental treatment, and that it is best for him to continue with his treatment, and sending him to jail would not be helpful,” the police said.
Also taking into consideration that the accused had no prior offences, police gave the student a 24-month conditional warning.
“The accused has completed his 24-month warning period without further offending and has remained crime-free since,” police noted.
In its report on Monday (29 April), CNA said that children were among the victims of sexual voyeurs in NUS. The report was based on one of the documents from the university’s student portal that revealed, among others, that 26 cases of sexual misconduct were heard by the school’s disciplinary board between 2015 and 2018.
Sexual misconduct cases at NUS came into the spotlight recently after NUS undergraduate Monica Baey, 23, took to a series of Instagram Stories on 19 April this year to seek tougher action against NUS student Nicholas Lim, who took a video of her taking a shower at her hostel.
The NUS Board of Discipline had ordered Lim, also 23, to be suspended for one semester. In addition, he was banned from entering into hostel premises on campus, had to undergo counselling sessions and was ordered to write a letter of apology to Baey.
The incident has sparked widespread furore within NUS and the general public over what they perceived to be light punishments meted out to Lim.
In response, NUS gave assurances that it is committed to deal with concerns over sexual misconduct on campus. Among the measures, NUS said it will set up a Review Committee to tackle the issue, tighten security arrangements on campus, and create a unit to care for victims of sexual misconduct.
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