14 weeks' jail for man who took upskirt videos

An accountant who took multiple upskirt videos and even filmed his colleague in their office was jailed for 14 weeks yesterday.

Willy Yeo, 31, had bought a recording device on eBay and planted it under his colleague's table during lunch hour on June 26, 2013.

He set it on recording mode before he left and the victim returned to her desk to have lunch shortly after.

Yeo was found out after the device fell off. The victim viewed the video, which captured Yeo affixing the device under her work desk, as well as the private area under her skirt.

She then told her boss and called the police.

Yeo, who faced 23 charges of insulting modesty and one of attempting to do so, had taken a video of the victim two months earlier without her knowledge, as well as several others, including that of a friend.

Yeo, who admitted to five charges, had been using his mobile phone and the recording device to film upskirt videos of women since January 2013.

He would usually take a bus to Pioneer MRT Station or walk around shopping malls to look for potential victims wearing short dresses or skirts. He would take videos of women travelling up escalators when they were unaware of his actions.

Further investigations showed that he would save a copy of all the upskirt videos he had recorded on his laptop, and catalogue them.

According to his lawyer, Yeo is undergoing treatment at the Institute of Mental Health and seeing a private psychiatrist for his voyeuristic disorder.

The prosecution had highlighted aggravating factors such as premeditation, use of a recording device and risk of dissemination.

The prosecutor also argued that voyeurs who commit their brand of sexual offences on public transport commuters should be dealt with equal force to ensure that the public transport system is safe to use and free of offenders such as Yeo.

elena@sph.com.sg

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