He filmed unsuspecting students, teachers in female toilet
16 July 2012 5:45 PM | Updated 6:07 PM
He was their science teacher at a secondary school in Jurong, but unknown to them, he was also secretly filming some of them in the toilet.
In the morning, Bertrand Ngien Wen-Tseah, 37, would activate the hidden pinhole cameras he had placed in the cubicles of the female toilet, which was also used by staff members. Before he went home, he would collect the clips to watch them privately.
The incidents took place from 26 January to 15 February 2012. The New Paper reported that on 13 July, he was in tears as he pleaded guilty in court to outraging the modesty of women, among other charges.
Assistant Public Prosecutor S Puvaneswari said in court: “There were multiple victims, some of whom were of a young age. He targeted females who may have been teachers.” Court documents showed that Ngien had placed three pinhole cameras in three cubicles located on the fourth floor of the school.
His undoing came on 15 February. At 7am that day, he placed the pinhole cameras as usual. However, at 1pm, he saw the pinhole cameras on the desk inside the school’s operating manager’s office. Knowing that his deeds had been uncovered, he waited until there was no one around the area before entering the office to steal the SD memory cards inside the cameras.
When the school’s operating manager discovered that the memory cards were missing, he used the school’s card-reader security system to check who entered and left his office and traced it back to Ngien, who was asked to return to school.
On his way back to school, Ngien threw the memory cards into a canal in Jurong West. He then met the principal, vice-principal and senior teachers, who told him that they would make a police report. Later at night, Ngien even threw the laptop issued to him by the Ministry of Education into the rubbish chute at his Clementi home.
He had used the school laptop to view footage of older videos of the girls using the toilet. In court, he also faced charges of destroying evidence and mischief by destroying the laptop. Assistant Public Prosecutor S Puvaneswari said: “The SD cards could have left his hands and been circulated. He threw away his laptop before police arrived; he was calculated in his moves.
“He left the camera on recording mode repeatedly and (with the destruction of evidence) we have no idea how long the recordings were for.” This means that the number of victims may be higher than the three victims or so accounted.
After he was arrested and while in detention, Ngien told a psychiatrist that he suffers from voyeurism and likes to peep at underage girls changing their clothes. In his mitigation, Ngien’s lawyer, Mr S. Retnam, said he has been suffering from depression in 2009 after his wife was found to have mental illness.
A teacher for 10 years, Ngien committed the crime after his wife was hospitalised for a few months. Mr Retnam said: "(He) was in a state of confusion. He regrets his actions and feels very embarrassed over the whole affair.” Ngien is said to be undergoing psychiatric and psychological treatment now.
The court session had to stop for 30 minutes when the prosecution wanted to confirm whether Ngien has compensated for the laptop he threw away. During this time, Ngien was believed to have succumbed to pressure and began crying outside the court.
Mr Retnam responded that Ngien, who has a Bachelor of Science degree from Nanyang Technological University, had repaid the cost of the laptop, which was $443.96. For insulting the modesty of a woman, Ngien could be jailed up to a year, fined or both. For destroying evidence, he could be jailed up to two years, fined or both.
The court is expected to sentence him on 25 July.
