Former ITE lecturer gets 32 weeks jail for taking over 300 upskirt videos

After three sackings from the National University of Singapore over sexual harassment violations, an ex-lecturer from the Institute of Technical Education was sentenced to 32 weeks in prison for a huge amount of upskirt photos and videos.

Who is Chia Teck Huat?

According to a report by The Straits Times, 41-year-old Chia Tech Huat was sentenced to 32 weeks jail time for three charges of insulting a woman’s modesty. He plead guilty to the offenses on October 29 this year.

He had taken upskirt videos of 335 women using a small, easily-concealed camera he ordered online. The videos were taken on a camera that was concealed in his laptop bag. The mini camera, that was reportedly modified by Chia was attached to a portable charger and allowed to stay discreetly outside of his bag and take the videos.

Online reports showed that Chia would walk around malls like Plaza Singapura with the camera positioned outside his bag, and searched for office workers wearing tight, short skirts. He would then follow these women and find opportunities for his camera setup to take upskirt videos.

Once he believed he had enough footage, he would then review the videos and save the ones that had captured explicit shots of the womens’ underwear on his other personal devices.

How was Chia Teck Huat caught?

According to reports, a person who suspected Chia of taking upskirt videos reported him to the police on October 23, 2017. He was arrested on the same day.

Investigations then yielded 362 different video clips on the man’s thumb drive and tablet. Reports said, “Of these, 314 were taken between July and October 2017, while 21 others were undated. The remaining clips could not be played.”

What did the judge think of Chia Tech Huat’s crime?

District Judge Adam Nakhoda said that the way Chia had bought the cameras online and even modified the setup to take continuous video showed a lot of planning and thought, which meant his intent was there even before he committed the crime. The man also practiced a lot so he could position the setup optimally, being able to take videos while concealing the camera.

The fact that Chia had taken 34 sessions of counseling for voyeuristic and adjustment disorders, though, was taken into consideration.

More professors and lecturers involved in sexually-charged cases

Previously, Alvinology reported on three different teaching staff, all from National University of Singapore, sacked for various sexual offenses involving student.

Tembusu College lecturer Dr. Jeremy Fernando was fired from his post after two students came forward to complain about unwanted sexual overtures on separate occasions. The lecturer mentioned that should his actions be revealed, he would lose his job.

Ex-professor Theodore Hopf was sacked recently after a student complained of him grabbing their arm and pulling them on one occasion, and also accused him of sending a sex-charged text message. The former profesor denied all allegations and went on to say that the text was a missent message he meant for his wife.

Another NUS teaching staff member was accused of inappropriate behaviour with a subordinate. Zheng Yongnian was allegedly involved in a sexual harassment incident with another member of staff, but had left the university’s employ before policies could be applied to his case.