SINGAPORE: A man bought a spy camera that looked like a USB charger and planted the device in his 13-year-old daughter’s bedroom to record nude videos of the unsuspecting girl.
His wife later found out about what he had done and alerted the police.
The 43-year-old was on Wednesday (April 20) sentenced to 18 weeks’ jail and ordered to be given one stroke of the cane after he pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism.
He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect his daughter’s identity.
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Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Ong said the man bought the spy camera before July 2019.
The device contained a signal emitter, allowing it to transmit real-time footage to linked mobile devices within a certain radius.
The camera also allowed the user of the devices to record footage.
The father was in his Jurong flat on July 6, 2020, when he entered his daughter’s bedroom at around 7.20am and planted the device in a corner, facing her laundry basket.
He activated an application on his mobile phone that allowed him to view the real-time images transmitted from the spy camera.
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After ensuring that the transmitted video feed was stable, he adjusted the spy camera’s direction slightly and left the room, only to return minutes later to readjust the angle of the device.
The man left the room soon after and the court heard that his face was clearly seen in the footage recorded.
The camera managed to capture his daughter in the nude before she put on her school uniform and left.
The man returned to her room at around 7.40am to retrieve the camera. He later transferred the videos to his laptop and mobile phone.
The offender viewed the clips “for his own pleasure”, the court heard.
The DPP said he returned to his daughter’s room again at around the same time the next day to commit a similar offence.
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On Aug 2, 2020, his 36-year-old wife found out that he had recorded and stored private videos of their daughter. The woman alerted the police later that month.
Court documents do not state how she discovered the incriminating clips.
The prosecutor told the court: “During investigations, the accused denied the allegations against him and claimed that he had installed the spy camera to monitor the victim studying in her bedroom.
“Investigations revealed that no footage was recorded of the victim studying in her bedroom.”
For each voyeurism charge involving a victim below 14 years old, an offender can be jailed for up to two years and fined, or caned. – The Straits Times (Singapore)/Asia News Network
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