Man jailed for filming student who was trying lingerie at clothing store
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — While he was at a Cotton On store in VivoCity mall, a full-time national serviceman saw a woman entering a fitting room next to his, found her attractive, and decided to film her changing.
After she left, he stayed on in his room to film a 21-year-old female student who was trying on lingerie.
This happened last year when Darren Tan, 26, was already issued a conditional 12-month warning for trying to take a video of a woman’s underwear in 2014.
On Tuesday (Oct 31), Tan was jailed 12 weeks after being convicted of one count of insulting a woman’s modesty, and another count for attempting to do the same in 2014. Five other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
He was also fined S$2,000 for storing obscene films in his phone.
The court heard that on April 30 last year, as the student was trying on lingerie at the shop, she noticed Tan holding his mobile phone under the partition of the fitting room.
When he realised he was caught, Tan tried to rush out of the store, but was later confronted by the victim, who had asked Cotton On employees for help.
Police officers later found a recording of the student on Tan’s phone, as well as four other obscene videos, which he said were downloaded from the Internet.
In July 2014, Tan tried to film under the dress of a 32-year-old woman, who was on an escalator at Yio Chu Kang MRT Station. The woman felt a tug at the lower half of her outfit, turned around, and saw Tan holding his phone underneath her dress.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chee Ee Ling said on Tuesday that although Tan had been given a chance then to change his behaviour, this was clearly not the case, and he chose to commit more aggravating offences.
For insulting the modesty of a woman, Tan could have been jailed a year, fined or both.
For having an obscene film in his possession, he could have been jailed up to six months or fined at least S$500 for each film.
