Former IMH nurse gets jail for preying on patients and colleagues
Father of four, who also preyed on colleagues and other women, jailed for almost five years with 10 strokes
Instead of caring for his patients, a former nurse at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) molested them and filmed them showering.
Some of the patients were severely mentally ill and suicidal.
Yesterday, he was jailed for 57 months and one week and given 10 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to four counts of insulting a woman's modesty, and two counts each of molestation and voyeurism. Another 34 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The accused, 36, also took videos of his colleagues changing and upskirt videos of a pregnant woman and another woman at an MRT station.
The married man with four children cannot be named to protect his victims' identities.
Due to his seniority at IMH, he was assigned to care for patients in the High Dependency Psychiatric Care Unit (HDPCU), a highly specialised ward for patients who are severely mentally ill, actively disturbed or suicidal.
In September last year, he passed by the HDPCU's activity room and noticed one of the patients alone on a hospital bed. She was restrained to the bed and half-naked.
She called out to him and he realised from her slurred speech that she was under medication.
Instead of calling for a female nurse to check on her, he recorded a video of himself molesting her, Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiagesh Sukumaran said.
In November last year, he was tasked to check the blood pressure of a patient who had been sedated due to aggression.
Noticing the patient's bed was partially shielded by a curtain, he recorded a video of himself pulling down her blanket to expose her genital area. She was asleep throughout the incident.
Thirteen videos of nine patients showering were also extracted from his mobile phone.
He also recorded an upskirt video of a doctor he accompanied during her rounds.
He targeted his fellow nurses by filming them changing while he stood on a chair and placed his phone above the door.
PREGNANT WOMAN
A 26-year-old pregnant woman also fell prey to him after she responded to his advertisement for a maternity photo shoot, which he told her was for an IMH presentation.
They met at Chinese Garden in Jurong last December, when he took five upskirt videos after telling her to look away from him.
He was arrested at IMH in March this year when a woman made a police report after catching him taking an upskirt video of her at an MRT station.
His two mobile phones were seized and sent for forensic examination.
A total of 26 upskirt videos of IMH staff and members of the public as well as five videos of IMH staff changing on the premises were found on his phones. There were also three videos of him molesting IMH patients.
He has been diagnosed with a voyeuristic disorder.
DPP Thiagesh said the accused's conduct was despicable and strikes "at the very ethos of nursing".
He also said the man's actions threatened to taint and mar the efforts of healthcare workers.
The accused's lawyers, Mr Mato Kotwani and Mr Ashwin Ganapathy, said the former nurse regrets his actions and had made unqualified confessions to the police.
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