Man filmed 334 upskirt videos of women on escalators over 10 months
SINGAPORE — A man who amassed 334 upskirt videos of women on escalators over a period of 10 months was jailed eight months on Thursday (8 October).
Chen Wei Da, a 29-year-old engineer, was caught in the act while commuting to work on 21 January last year.
He pleaded guilty to one count each of insulting the modesty of women on 85 occasions between 31 October 2018 and 21 January 2019, and on 249 occasions between 30 March and 30 October 2018. Two charges under the Films Act were taken into consideration for sentencing.
At about 9am on the day Chen was caught, a 35-year-old man had been taking an ascending escalator at Raffles Place MRT station when he saw Chen overtake him.
Chen stood behind a woman wearing a short yellow dress and stretched out his hand, positioning his phone under the woman’s dress. Chen then exited the MRT. The witness followed Chen to Republic Plaza and confronted him over the act.
Chen tried to flee but the witness managed to stop him. A security officer deployed at Republic Plaza intervened and called the police.
After he was arrested, Chen’s handphone was seized and a total of 334 upskirt videos were uncovered, taken from 30 March 2018 until the day he was caught.
Chen admitted to using the camera on his mobile phone to take upskirt videos of unsuspecting women wearing short dress or skirts while riding on the escalators.
Seeking nine months’ jail, Assistant Public Prosecutor Lydia Goh told the court that Chen would have continued his offending behaviour had he not been caught red-handed by the witness.
Chen’s lawyer Ashwin Ganapathy said that his client had taken steps to remedy his problem.
His client had never asked to be placed on a mandatory treatment order, which would have accorded him psychiatric treatment in lieu of jail time. Instead, Chen had said that he deserved the “just desserts of his crime”, the lawyer said.
“To say that my client is utterly remorseful is an understatement. My client was doing well in life, had a well paying job and had a fiancee he was supposed to marry. Everything he has thrown away because of his actions,” said Ashwin.
For insulting the modesty of any woman, Chen could have been fined up to one year, or fined, or both.
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