NTU research fellow who took upskirt photos around university, shopping malls gets jail

SINGAPORE: A 30-year-previous male took upskirt images of women of all ages from 2015 until finally his arrest in 2021, such as at numerous destinations all over Nanyang Technological University (NTU), shopping malls and MRT stations.

Guo Zhihong was sentenced on Monday (Mar 21) to 10 months and 5 weeks’ jail. He pleaded guilty to two charges of voyeurism and a person cost of insulting a woman’s modesty. Another seven charges have been taken into consideration for sentencing.

Using all the costs into thought, Guo recorded more than 2,200 upskirt photographs more than the six-calendar year period of time.

The court docket heard that Guo was a study staff member at NTU’s Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the time of the offences.

Responding to CNA’s queries, an NTU spokesperson reported that Guo’s work was terminated with impact from Apr 22, 2021. 

“NTU has a zero tolerance stance towards all varieties of harassment, including voyeurism and sexual misconduct,” said the spokesperson.

Guo experienced taken upskirt shots at many locations in NTU, which include the overhead bridge around the Lee Wee Nam Library, around Hall 11 and its bus quit, and all around Quad Cafe and Canteen B in the South Spine location.

He also committed the offences at staircases outside the house the Lee Wee Nam Library and Nanyang Auditorium, a staircase leading to NTU North Hill and a staircase within the South Spine space.

Guo found other victims in different searching malls in Orchard Highway and Somerset and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. He also took upskirt images around MRT stations like at Orchard, Jurong East, Pioneer, Boon Lay, Dhoby Ghaut and Bukit Batok.

“When the accused observed gals putting on skirts, shorts or yoga pants whom he identified appealing, he would acquire comprehensive human body back perspective photos and upskirt photographs of them,” said the prosecution.

He stored the pictures on a tricky disk and afterwards, when the tricky disk stopped working, on a notebook. The pictures have been stored in folders labelled in chronological order, based on when they have been recorded.

CAUGHT Purple-HANDED

Guo’s offences were discovered when he was caught in the act on Apr 11 very last 12 months. He experienced built programs to have dinner by himself and get upskirt photographs at Orchard MRT station.

At about 8.15pm, Mr Seah Choon Kong, was going for walks from ION Orchard to Orchard MRT station when he discovered Guo strolling intently driving the sufferer and her feminine companion. Mr Seah saw that Guo was holding his mobile phone below the victim’s skort – a pair of shorts with an overlapping material give the physical appearance of a skirt.

On an escalator that was travelling upwards at Wheelock Place, Mr Seah saw Guo take upskirt pictures of the victim from where he was standing a action under her.

Immediately after confirming with the victim and her woman companion that Guo was not their buddy, Mr Seah instructed the females that Guo had been following them for some time and experienced behaved “suspiciously, by standing near to them and filming them from a low angle”.

Mr Seah then confronted Guo and questioned to see the picture gallery on his phone. Guo at initial refused and was found fiddling with his phone, as if seeking to reset it. He was stopped from undertaking so.

When Guo finally relented, he confirmed them a random album in his gallery with no shots in it. He also diminished the brightness of his display, making excuses that his battery was running small and that he experienced personalized contents on the mobile phone he did not want them to see.

He also experimented with to go away, but was detained by Mr Seah and two other male passers-by while the mall’s protection was alerted.

When the police arrived, Guo initially refused to unlock his cellphone and tried using to do anything with his photograph gallery. His telephone was then seized by the police, who examined the gallery and uncovered many photos of women’s buttocks.

Guo admitted to the police that he experienced taken these photographs devoid of the women’s consent in the past couple of months. After forensic examination, a total of 19 photos were also discovered in the mobile phone.

Law enforcement raided Guo’s apartment a day just after he was caught, seizing 6 additional digital devices.

The assortment of upskirt pictures on Guo’s notebook and cell phone included 622 photos belonging to 100 unidentified victims. He admitted to recording these in 2020 at diverse locations about Singapore devoid of the women’s consent.

Law enforcement also identified a different 315 pics of 72 unfamiliar girls recorded in Singapore in 2016 on his laptop.

Deputy General public Prosecutor Lee Wen Kym questioned for 11 to 14 months’ jail. She explained Guo was a prolific serial upskirter with no fewer than 400 victims, who committed his offences with premeditation. He had admitted to scheduling outings to report upskirt photographs.

She also highlighted that some of Guo’s pics have been taken on a college campus, “in which students should be in a position to come to feel risk-free and not stress about the threat of voyeuristic images of them getting captured”.