Man, 61, jailed 16 weeks for taking upskirt videos as 'challenge'
SINGAPORE — An elderly man took upskirt photos and videos of attractive women as a personal “challenge”, and felt a sense of satisfaction whenever he managed to avoid detection.
Poon Heng Wah was caught the second month into his challenge, with six obscene videos found in his phone.
The 61-year-old was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail on Monday (25 November) after he admitted to four out of six counts of insulting the modesty of a woman, with the remaining two considered for sentencing.
Taking upskirt videos 3 to 4 times a week
A month before he was caught on 9 August 2017, Poon began taking upskirt videos three to four times a week, targeting four to five victims each day.
“He saw taking upskirt videos as a challenge, and felt a sense of satisfaction if he successfully took such videos while avoiding detection,” Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Pei Wei told the court.
She added that Poon would choose his victims that could arouse him and were easy to film without detection. He would delete the obscene films after viewing them.
On 9 August 2017, Poon was loitering around NTUC supermarket at Kang Kar Mall in Hougang at about 4.39pm, when he came across a woman wearing a blue skirt who was looking at a display of vegetables.
As the woman seemed distracted and in a vulnerable position, Poon decided to take an upskirt video of her, and succeeded after several attempts.
Some four minutes later, he took an upskirt video of another woman who was bending over a freezer.
Caught in third attempt at mall
Poon was caught in his third attempt at about 5.20pm. He saw a 60-year-old woman at the exit of the supermarket and followed her for about two minutes to the basement of Hougang Mall. He trailed her to a BBQ Express branch, where the woman queued to buy food. He then filmed below her skirt and captured her face in the process.
After his successful attempt, Poon tried to capture another video of the same woman but was noticed by a witness who caught him in the act and confronted him.
Poon initially denied the act but later came clean and begged for forgiveness. The witness then called the police.
When Poon was arrested, he was found with six videos in his phone, all taken on 9 August.
Diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder
He was diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder in a Mandatory Treatment Order (MTO) report dated 4 November this year. A psychiatrist stated that the condition contributed to Poon’s offending actions.
An MTO, which can last up to three years, is a community-based sentencing option given to those deemed to be suffering from psychiatric disorders, so that they can undergo psychiatric treatment instead of serving jail time.
Suggesting for a one-year MTO, the psychiatrist suggested that Poon’s offending could be “understood as another instance of his maladaptive coping with low self-esteem and depressive symptoms prevailing around the time of the offences.”
However DPP Vincent Ong submitted that the court should not follow the MTO report, citing the link between Poon’s mental condition and offending as “limited at best”.
He added that Poon’s offences were serious and that his personal characteristics “have shown that he is able to be deterred and that he is able to appreciate the nature and consequences of his actions”.
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