28-Year-Old Doctor Jailed For Taking Over 3,000 Upskirt Videos Using "Special Shoes"

According to The Straits Times, the 28-year-old Singaporean, Chu Ben Wee, had recorded such videos in junior colleges and hospitals since he was a junior college student himself in 2009.

Chu, who was working as a public hospital medical officer then, was finally caught when he stood too close to a woman at a shopping mall in Novena on 18 January 2018.

The victim felt Chu's shoe touch her ankle and she pretended to squat down to look at items on a shelf when she confirmed that he had a hidden camera in his shoe. She immediately called the police on him and had him arrested.

In initial investigations, the police found that Chu had cut a 1.5cm hole in the front portion of his right black sports shoe, concealed a small camera inside, and controlled the recordings with his smartphone while he wore them.

He referred to them as his "special shoes".

In his electronic devices, they discovered about 3,260 upskirt videos that Chu had taken himself with his shoes. Thousands of other videos of women, either being in the toilet or taking a shower, were downloaded from the Internet.

TODAY reported that most of the videos identified by the police were taken more recently when he was working in various hospitals in 2017 and 2018. The offender had upskirt videos of nurses, doctors, and other members of the staff who were frequently on duty with him.

After recording the videos, Chu confessed that he would transfer them to a hard disk and give them titles relating to factors such as the victims' race, estimated age, and type of underwear.

Whenever he felt the urge, he would watch the clips for his own sexual gratification.

In April 2019, he targeted another woman in Plaza Singapura shopping centre. Chu was arrested but released on bail again soon after.

Just three months later in July 2019, he was caught recording upskirt videos at a junior college career fair where he dressed up as a student.

A female student noticed his suspicious behaviour and confronted him alongside a teacher. He was arrested again by the police and investigations found that he had school uniforms from two other junior colleges among his belongings, including his alma mater.

He was facing thirteen other similar charges, including criminal trespassing, which were considered during sentencing.

During the trial, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Sruthi Boppana described Chu as "one of the most prolific and serial upskirt video recorders to come before the courts".

She said despite Chu's diagnosis of paraphilic disorder and major depressive disorder by the Institute of Mental Health, doctors said there was no contributory link between the disorders and his offences.

DPP Sruthi urged deputy principal district judge Seah Chi-Ling to sentence Chu to at least three years and a month's jail as his offences were systematic and premeditated.

Chu's defence lawyer Luke Lee, however, pleaded for a shorter jail term and said that his client will benefit from treatment.

"When he does recover, he can return to being a beneficial member of society," the lawyer said.

Chu was sentenced to three years' jail, which was backdated to his date of remand on 9 January this year.