After being caught taking pictures of his assistant while she was showering, a doctor working at a family clinic in Singapore was sentenced to 13 weeks’ imprisonment yesterday (8 August).
The 37-year-old doctor pleaded guilty to one count of filming the 43-year-old clinic assistant without her consent on the same day.
In order to protect the victim’s privacy, any personal information, including the clinic and the name of the accused, cannot be revealed.
The Incident
According to the case, the victim rode her bicycle to her workplace at around 8am on 23 March last year.
Since the only available washroom was the one in the clinic, she told the doctor that she would be using the toilet to change her clothes.
However, she noticed a shadow near the window after she began showering, and soon saw someone taking photographs of her through the gap in the window.
Upon realising that someone was trying to film her, she shouted loudly immediately.
Since the window of the toilet was facing the back alley, she hurriedly put on her clothes before she ran out to the back alley in order to ask for help.
She also asked for the nearby shopowners to retrieve their CCTV footage.
Doctor Wore Same Outfit as Man in Back Alley
According to CCTV footage, a man dressed in a striped shirt and long pants was pacing back and forth in the alley at that time.
When watching the footage, the assistant recalled that the doctor was dressed in the same outfit that day, and that the mobile phone she saw looked similar to the one that the doctor owned as well.
Hence, she suspected that the man who took photos of her was the doctor at the clinic. She then informed her superior and filed a police report that night.
Doctor Deleted All Photos and Videos, But Police Retrieved Them
In court, the doctor revealed that he initially jumped up and down to try and see the assistant while she was showering, and decided to film her with his phone after that.
After hearing her scream, he immediately went back to his clinic and deleted all the photos and videos that he had taken.
However, the police were able to recover two video clips and six images of the assistant showering in his phone.
Accused and Victim Knew Each Other for Around Two Years
In court, the prosecution pointed out that the accused had known the victim for almost two years, and that he had betrayed the trust that the victim had in him.
Coupled with the fact that all images and videos taken of the assistant were of her naked body, the prosecution expressed that the accused should be sentenced to 13 weeks in jail.
On the other hand, the accused’s lawyer highlighted that it was the first time that he had broken the law, and that he had been fully cooperative during the police investigations.
He then asked for the judge to give his client a lighter sentence and a second chance.
Featured Image: Shutterstock.com / Sergey Chayko