Yale-NUS suspended student charged with filming upskirt and shower videos of women on campus

SINGAPORE - The Yale-NUS student who was charged in court on Tuesday (Oct 1) with taking upskirt videos of women and filming them showering on campus had been suspended since March.

The liberal arts college confirmed on Thursday morning that the accused is its student who had been suspended.

"Brandon Lee Bing Xiang, a student at Yale-NUS College, has been charged in court for insulting the modesty of a fellow student," Professor Joanne Roberts, executive vice-president of academic affairs at Yale-NUS College said in response to media queries.

"He was suspended the day after the College was notified about the incident in March 2019."

The college declined to provide more information on the 26-year-old.

"The matter is currently before the courts and it would not be appropriate for the college to comment further on Lee's case," said Prof Roberts.

Lee allegedly used a smartphone to film at least four women, and faces 24 counts of intruding on a woman's privacy to insult her modesty.

Court documents say the offences took place between August 2017 and March 3 this year.

Prof Roberts said that the college has reached out to the affected female students to render support.

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She added that the college takes a serious view of allegations of sexual misconduct and has in place a process to address such matters, as well as support systems to ensure the psychological well-being of students.

When cases of sexual misconduct are formally reported to the college, an investigation is conducted and disciplinary action meted out where appropriate, she said.

Security measures are also in place to protect students on campus, she added.

Students can report sexual misconduct incidents to their residential college adviser, a senior student who mentors and supports first-year students.

They can also report an incident to their residential college's dean's fellows, rectors and assistant deans, said Prof Roberts.

There is also a full-time staff member in the dean of students' office, whose responsibilities include overseeing these processes, she said.

Affected students also have access to an on-campus counselling support network that comprises psychologists, counselling centre staff and residential staff.

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Information on Lee online showed that he was among the first batch of 20 Singapore Sports School student-athletes on the through-train Republic Polytechnic-Singapore Sports School Diploma in Sports and Leisure Management programme. He graduated in May 2014 with a 3.94 grade point average and received the Yale-NUS Dean's Scholarship (Philosophy, Politics and Economics).

He started his tertiary education in Yale-NUS in 2016 after completing National Service.

He also represented Singapore at the 2009 Asian Youth Games held here and won a silver and a bronze in bowling events.

Lee returns to court on Oct 22.

For each charge of insulting a woman's modesty, offenders can be jailed up to a year and fined.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.