TLDR; A 17-year old boy charged with posting upskirt photos of his teacher pleads guilty. His reason? He was unhappy with his teacher for not showing as much care to him in Secondary 3 as compared to when he was in Secondary 1.
All of us have had some kind of unhappy experience with our teachers, classmates while growing up. For most of us, these feelings usually arise when we’re punished for doing (or not doing something) e.g. arguing with the teacher, forgetting to bring our textbooks, or forgetting to complete our homework.
For a particular 17-year-old though (his identity cannot be disclosed as he committed these crimes when he was not yet 18), it was because he was unhappy with his teacher for not showing as much care to him when he was in Secondary 3, compared to when he was in Secondary 1. And how did he decide to show his anger? By uploading upskirt screenshots of his teacher online.
The student has pleaded guilty in a district court to a single charge of distributing or transmitting obscene material. Those convicted can face up to three months of jail or fined, or both.
How did he get his hands on the screenshots?
The student (who was 15 at the time) learnt that two upskirt videos had been recorded of this teacher from his schoolmates. He managed to obtain one screenshot of each video from his schoolmates, which he then proceeded to edit.
He created several versions of the images before uploading them on Tumblr. To supplement the upskirt screenshots of the teacher, he also uploaded photos that clearly showed her face, other family members, as well as her place of work.
The photos were also substantiated with captions encouraging viewers to reblog, like and share. He also wrote that the photos were upskirt photos of a secondary school teacher. As a result, the photos were widely circulated.
2 years have passed since the victim lodged the police report on May 21, 2019.
In those 2 years, the teen had gone for counseling sessions in a bid to control his emotions as it is believed that he committed those crimes out of malice.
He has also expressed his remorse. When asked by District Judge Soh if the teen had anything to say, he said that,
“I really hope you give me a chance to turn over a new leaf because I’m doing really well now, especially in school.” He also proceeded to say that he regretted his action and he has been caned and suspended from school.
District Judge Soh has also called for a report to assess if he is suitable for probation, which is usually offered to first-time offenders between 16 and 21 years old.