Serial upskirter who re-offended while on probation gets jail term
SINGAPORE — An assistant executive who took upskirt videos a mere three weeks after being sentenced to probation for the same crime was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail on Monday (6 January) for breaching his probation conditions and for reoffending.
Lim Jia Jun, 22, spurned the opportunity extended to him when he was first sentenced, and showed even more sophistication by using an app which masked his actions when he reoffended, said District Judge Eddy Tham - the same judge who had passed Lim’s first probation term.
Lim, a full-time national serviceman with the Singapore Armed Forces at the time of the offences, was originally placed on 21 months’ probation for filming 11 upskirt videos of female victims. As part of his probation, he was forbidden from using mobile devices with camera functions.
However, Lim used a Sony Xperia mobile phone to reoffend three weeks later, recording 19 obscene videos within two hours in Chinatown.
On 29 November 2018, Lim had targetted 19 different women, brazenly denying and challenging accusations and even confidently allowing one of the victims to check his phone, knowing that it was unlikely that she would find the concealed videos, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Melina Chew. The NSF would have gotten away if not for the actions of a good Samaritan, said the prosecutor.
Lim even continued to maintain his innocence throughout investigations and only came clean six months later when confronted with incriminating evidence from his phone.
Lawyer Sim Bing Wen, who represented Lim, asked for a second term of probation for his client, citing a probation report that was still favourable towards Lim.
At the time of his second offence, Lim had not gone through psychotherapy programmes that were aimed at improving his behaviour, said the lawyer. Lim has since completed all 24 sessions.
Since December last year, his client had been working as an assistant executive in the banking industry and is contracted to work until April this year, according to Sim.
The lawyer also asked for any electronic tagging to be substituted with community service, stating that being e-tagged at work would stigmatise Lim, taint his record and dent his employment prospects, foiling any long term career plans to remain in the banking and finance industry.
“E-tagging would only remind him of what he has done and slow down the process by which he can rehabilitate and become a useful member of society,” said Sim.
Lim submitted a letter to court stating that his psychotherapy programme has allowed him to “address and identify (his) risk factors and warning signs as well as come up with strategies to cope with them.”
“I have learnt to better manage my stress and curb the deviant and unhealthy thoughts that occasionally plague my mind,” he said.
But District Judge Tham said that Lim’s ability to comply with his programmes paled in comparison with the aggravating circumstances of his behaviour and the need for deterrence.
Even though he performed well in terms of gaining employment and engaging in other meaningful activity, he clearly escalated his offences and circumvented his conditions for probation by obtaining another handphone and using an app to conceal his “nefarious activity” said the judge.
He reoffended despite being given a “precious chance” to rehabilitate earlier and the court had to send a message to show that such breaches will not be condoned, said DJ Tham.
Sim told the court that his client intends to appeal the sentence.
Facts of the case
At a Daiso outlet at Chinatown Point on 29 November 2018, Lim held on to his mobile phone while squatting behind a woman in a knee-length skirt who was browsing items on a shelf. He then stood up quickly and walked away.
A witness, Koh Kheng Boon, observed Lim’s actions and suspected that he had taken an upskirt photo. Koh informed a Daiso staff member, who then approached the victim and Lim.
The victim confronted Lim and asked to see his mobile phone, but did not see any evidence of the upskirt video. Lim had used an app which stored recorded videos within the app itself. The app also allowed the user to change the display icon, which Lim did in order to conceal its true function. She then left the store.
Lim approached Koh to ask what was going on and the latter said he saw Lim taking an upskirt photograph. Lim challenged Koh’s claims.
Koh then called the police saying, “I detained one guy for upskirt, require police here.”
Lim initially denied any wrongdoing to policemen. But a forensic examination of his phone uncovered 19 upskirt videos, taken between 12.09pm and 2.15pm around Chinatown Point.
In the statement of facts previously read out to the court when Lim pleaded guilty on 27 November last year, he admitted to browsing voyeuristic forums, and stated that he wanted to experience the thrill of engaging in the act of taking upskirt images himself. He targeted women who were wearing skirts or dresses, so long as they were not too old for his liking.
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