Male teen admits to molesting woman on buttocks in bid to smell her
SINGAPORE — A male teenager who felt aroused by a woman running on the treadmill at his condominium’s gym decided to get closer to her in order to smell her.
As he leaned down, the 19-year-old’s face came into contact with her buttocks.
The teen pleaded guilty on Monday (23 August) to one count of molest, and another count of trespassing into the female toilet of his school to record female students showering on 6 May 2019. Another two charges, similarly of criminal trespass into his school’s female toilet to film women showering on an earlier occasion, will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.
A probation report was called by District Judge May Mesenas to assess the teen’s suitability for the community-based sentencing. He and his victims cannot be named to protect the victims' identities.
The 39-year-old victim, who stayed in the same condominium as the teen, went to the gym on 17 March last year for her daily exercise at night. There were three other persons in the gym but they left about 10 minutes later.
The teen ended work at about 7pm and was on the way home when he decided to use the toilet near the gym. When he reached the gym area, he saw the woman running on the treadmill and felt aroused. He decided to take a closer look, said the prosecution.
He entered the gym and pretended to look at its equipment while occasionally glancing at the victim. While the victim noticed him entering the gym, she did not think much about his presence there. She continued looking ahead and listening to music.
Still feeling aroused, the teen decided to get closer to the woman to smell her. He bent down and leaned forward to place his face close to her buttocks, according to the prosecution. His face came into contact with her buttocks.
Shocked, the woman turned around to see the teen behind her. He apologised and left the gym for home. The woman finished exercising before heading home. She told her husband about the incident before lodging a police report.
The teen had also been taking illicit recordings of his schoolmates in a female toilet. He was caught in the act on 6 May 2019, after a witness, a female student, went to the female toilet on the ground floor near her school hall to shower after football practice.
While exiting her cubicle, the witness saw the teen in school uniform squatting down in front of her in the opposite cubicle with his back facing her. The teen was holding a phone and looking inside the opening between the floor and the bottom of the cubicle divider.
The teen had gone to shower after his IPPT test in the male toilet adjacent to the female toilet. As he left the male toilet, he heard voices coming from the female toilet and decided to go in to film women. He entered the female toilet’s open cubicle, squatted to put his phone underneath the door and began to film a short video.
A few seconds later, the witness exited the shower cubicle and saw the teen, who then fled. The witness reported the incident to a teacher.
After he was traced and questioned, the teen admitted to doing the same thing in an incident between December 2018 and January 2019.
The teen will return on 20 September for his sentencing.
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