Private tutor who took upskirt videos of 142 women over 2 years pleads guilty
Over a span of two years, Low Boon En took upskirt videos involving 142 women without being detected.
The private tutor, now 40, was caught when a witness spotted a blinking light coming from inside a tennis bag that Low had positioned under a woman’s skirt.
By that point, he had amassed a total of 252 videos and stored them in his computer and external hard drive.
At the State Courts on Monday (10 December), Low admitted to 12 counts of insulting the modesty of a woman. A remaining 130 charges of the same nature will be taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Caught red-handed
Low was caught red-handed at a Popular bookstore outlet in Tampines on 26 June 2016.
He had been shopping at the store when he spotted his victim, a 20-year-old woman. He then decided to take an upskirt video as he found her pretty.
Low was also “curious about how sexy a girl can be as he did not have a girlfriend”, said the prosecution.
He activated his video camera’s recording mode and placed it in an opening at the top of his tennis racquet bag with the lens facing upwards.
The video recorder came with a wireless viewer which Low held in his other hand. He then positioned his bag under the woman’s skirt.
A man, who was also in Popular bookstore, noticed Low pacing about and then placing his bag under the woman’s skirt. The man also observed a blinking light coming from a device inside the bag and spotted another device in Low’s hand.
He then confronted Low, who denied any wrongdoing. When the man threatened to call the police, Low removed the SD card from his video recorder and placed it in his left pocket.
He discarded the SD card before the police arrived. Officers seized the video recorder found in Low’s bag along with the hand-held viewer.
Committed acts to relieve stress: accused
A day later, Low was brought back to his home where police officers raided his bedroom and seized his hard drive. He later admitted that he had taken upskirt videos to relieve stress.
Police found upskirt videos dated between 18 October 2014 and 10 May 2016 taken at various venues, including supermarkets, MRT station escalators as well as Daiso and Uniqlo outlets.
In her submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Shi tendered three Institute of Mental Health (IMH) reports that diagnosed Low with psychotic disorder with depressive symptoms. However, the IMH psychiatrist stated that Low’s condition was only partly contributory to his offence.
DPP Shi disputed the defence’s psychiatric report, which stated that Low had chosen to take the videos to demonstrate he was a “real man” in response to a voice inside his head.
Low will be sentenced on 8 January.
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