- Joined
- Oct 3, 2016
- Messages
- 35,356
- Points
- 113
Serial voyeur jailed for peeping at teen in Tanglin Shopping Centre toilet
Photo illustration of a voyeur filming in a toilet.
Davina Tham
14 Jun 2022 07:08PM (Updated: 14 Jun 2022 07:08PM)
SINGAPORE: A man with a history of voyeurism was on Tuesday (Jun 14) jailed 10 weeks for peeping at a teenager in a toilet at Tanglin Shopping Centre.
Reyes Ryan Jayson De Leon, 39, was working as a marketing executive in the mall at the time of the offence.
The court heard that at about 12.30pm on Oct 18 last year, he entered a cubicle in one of the male toilets.
The 17-year-old victim was in the adjacent cubicle at the time. His identity is protected by gag order.
Reyes stood on the toilet bowl of his own cubicle and peeped into the victim's cubicle. At the time, the teenager was sitting on the covered toilet bowl taking a selfie.
When the teen looked at the photo he had just taken, he noticed Reyes in the background, peeping into the cubicle over the partition wall.
The victim confronted Reyes, who admitted to peeping into the cubicle. He was arrested by police on the same day.
His mobile phone was also seized, and police found voyeuristic images when they examined it.
Through investigations, police found that on Sep 7 last year, in the same toilet, Reyes had taken a photo of another victim's private parts without his consent.
Reyes admitted to using his phone to photograph the victim from the bottom of the adjacent cubicle. The identity of this victim is not known.
Reyes also admitted to having an urge to see the private parts of people in adjacent cubicles regardless of whether they consented or not, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Sivanathan Jheevanesh.
He started peeping into occupied toilet cubicles a few years ago, and was able to see the occupants' private parts on some occasions, court documents stated.
The court heard that Reyes' method was to first attempt to peep inside a cubicle if he knew that it was occupied, such as if he heard noises.
If he was not able to peep inside, he would take a photo from under his own cubicle to see if it could capture any private parts.
Reyes pleaded guilty to one charge each of intruding on the teen's privacy to insult his modesty, and voyeurism. Two other charges were considered for sentencing.
Mr Jheevanesh asked for 10 to 12 weeks' jail, arguing that it was fortuitous the teenage victim's private parts were not exposed during the offence.
He argued that Reyes' actions were premeditated as he "targeted" the same toilet on four occasions, and that the victim was young and vulnerable.
Defence lawyer Mark Yeo countered that his client's offences were opportunistic and not planned.
He said Reyes was remorseful and aware of "underlying issues" to be resolved, and had taken steps to be accountable to his church leaders and family.
The lawyer added: "He was literally chased around the block by the victim who was recording a video of him, which was uploaded on the Internet and went viral."
In sentencing, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan said it was clear from the facts of the case that Reyes' offences were "not spontaneous acts".
"They do show a pattern of behaviour, they do show that these things don't just happen by chance," said the judge.
The penalty for intruding upon the privacy of a person to insult his or her modesty is up to one year's jail, a fine or both.
Voyeurism can be punished with up to two years' jail, a fine, caning or any combination of these punishments.
