Ex-ITE lecturer jailed for taking over 300 upskirt videos
Armed with a modified hidden camera concealed within his laptop bag, the former Institute of Technical Education lecturer prowled around shopping malls tailing middle-aged women in short skirts.
Chia Teck Huat, 41, took upskirt videos of more than 300 women in just four months in 2017 until he got caught.
Highlighting the sheer number of victims and the high degree of planning and premeditation in the case, District Judge Adam Nakhoda yesterday sentenced Chia to 32 weeks' jail.
Chia had pleaded guilty in October to three counts of insulting a woman's modesty, with another similar charge taken into consideration.
Judge Nakhoda noted that the former lecturer had sourced for mini cameras online in order to commit the offences, took the effort to dismantle and conceal them and even experimented with the camera set-up for optimal positioning.
Chia had also organised the illicit videos by date and labelled them - affording him the opportunity for further viewing and had clear potential for further dissemination, said the judge.
However, he also recognised Chia had been diagnosed with voyeuristic and adjustment disorders, had gone for 34 counselling sessions since his arrest and has not re-offended.
The court had earlier heard that Chia would attach a camera to a portable charger and position the lens to peek out from the side of his laptop bag.
He kept at least two spare cameras as, in the course of committing his offences between July and October 2017, he had broken at least two cameras, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kathy Chu.
Walking around malls such as Ion Orchard, Chia would position the hidden camera underneath the dresses or skirts of his victims. He would copy the file to his personal electronic devices.
He was arrested on Oct 23, 2017, after a man suspected him of taking upskirt videos at Plaza Singapura and called the police. A total of 362 clips were recovered from Chia's tablet and thumb drive, which were seized in a raid at his home.
Of these, 314 were taken between July and October 2017, while 21 were undated. The remaining 27 clips could not be played. In October, ITE told The New Paper that Chia had been sacked in March 2018.
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