SINGAPORE: A serial upskirt offender was jailed for the fifth year in a row after committing the same crime some six months after being released.
Gary Huang Kunjie, 37, was sentenced to 36 weeks’ jail on Wednesday (Oct 19).
He pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism, with another two charges taken into consideration.
The court heard that Huang had been released from jail for a 2021 conviction, when he went back to targeting women.
Among other offences, he filmed an upskirt video of a woman on an escalator at Bugis Junction on Apr 30.
Huang was arrested after one of his victims noticed him.
On Thursday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jaime Pang asked for 40 weeks’ jail, saying that Huang was “quite heavily traced” for similar offences.
He was jailed for insulting a woman’s modesty in 2018 and in 2019.
In 2020 he was jailed for voyeurism and insulting a woman’s modesty.
Last year he was convicted again of voyeurism charges, and sentenced to jail.
Mr Pang said Huang reoffended within six months of being released from his prior sentence. The current offences are identical to the previous ones, demonstrating that his punishment has had no effect on him, said Mr Pang.
He called for deterrence, citing Huang’s “relentless intrusion” on the privacy of women. But he recognised that there were fewer victims this time round.
Lawyer Gregory Fong, who acted for Huang under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, said he believed his client required some sort of treatment “so that he will not be hauled back to court over and over again”.
“He has readily admitted his mistake,” said the lawyer. “His parents are also frustrated that their son always has to go court and to intrude on the privacy of women.”
He asked for a jail term of between 22 and 24 weeks instead.
The judge asked if Huang had taken any steps of his own accord to help himself in his situation.
Mr Fong said he believed Huang was being regularly treated at the Institute of Mental Health. According to past news reports, Huang had been previously diagnosed with conditions including fetishistic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.
However, his mental condition had no contributory link to the current offences, the court heard.
Asked how often he saw IMH’s doctors, Huang said: “Yes, they got appointment with me … Got one time, I postpone my appointment with the doctor, so unfortunately I relapse this offence again. So this (is) my mistake for this.”
The prosecutor pointed out that IMH reports were called for in both 2020 and 2021 when Huang came to court. In 2021, a mandatory treatment order suitability report was also called for.
“This is not something not known to Mr Huang that he has this condition,” said Mr Pang. He said Huang was given many occasions to commit to rehabilitation and treatment.
“As much as we hope that he will be rehabilitated this time, the current trend is not particularly optimistic,” he said.
He urged the judge to issue a sentence as sought, rather than “giving too much moderation to the accused’s mental condition”.
The judge told Huang to avoid reoffending, telling him that the sentences will be “quite high” if he were to return.
“It is already quite high,” she said. “There is a need for deterrence and you need to be really very proactive about your own condition.”
For voyeurism, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.