SINGAPORE — Having developed a crush on a male intern, Zhong Kun started observing the intern’s toilet habits and recorded videos of him on eight occasions.
The intern caught him in the act one time, but a supervisor told him that it may be a “misunderstanding”. The second and third time it happened, the company was alerted.
On Friday (Oct 13), Zhong, a 46-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to two charges of voyeurism and was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail.
Another two similar charges were taken into consideration.
The identity of the 23-year-old victim is protected by a court order and this extends to the name of the company.
WHAT HAPPENED
In January this year, the victim started his internship with the company. Zhong had been working there as a principal engineer since 2014.
Court documents did not state if Zhong or the intern is still working in the company.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kathy Chu said that Zhong never spoke to the intern, but developed a crush on him.
Noticing that at 4pm daily at work, the intern would use the cubicle in the toilet meant for the handicapped, Zhong went into the cubicle next to it and filmed him.
On Jan 31, while the intern was in the toilet cubicle, he noticed that someone was using a mobile phone in recording mode pointed in his direction.
Stunned, he banged on the partition between the cubicles and took a photograph of Zhong’s sneakers, which were visible through a gap at the base of the partition.
The intern then went to inform his supervisor. Although they waited outside the toilet, no one appeared.
“The victim’s supervisor told him that it may have been a misunderstanding in that the person he saw may only have been picking up his handphone,” DPP Chu said.
The intern later saw Zhong wearing the same sneakers some days later, but did not confront him because he wanted to give Zhong the benefit of the doubt after what his supervisor said.
However, on Feb 24, Zhong repeated his actions and was caught by the intern again.
The intern reported this to his supervisor and using the company’s organisational chart, they found out Zhong’s name and identity. The intern then sent an email about the incident to the company’s management.
On March 10, Zhong did the same thing when the intern was in the toilet and was caught again. The intern informed his supervisor and they again informed the company’s management.
“Internal investigations ensued and the victim was advised to lodge a police report, which he did,” DPP Chu said, adding that the police report was made on March 14.
It turned out that Zhong had filmed the intern secretly on eight occasions, and the intern’s genitals could be seen in the video recordings on seven occasions.
Zhong had done so for sexual gratification and would delete the videos on the day itself or the day after, DPP Chu said.
“As a result of the accused’s actions, the victim feels uncomfortable and concerned each time he enters a toilet,” she added, without elaborating if she meant even now or immediately after the incidents.
For each charge of voyeurism, Zhong could have been jailed for up to two years, been penalised with a fine, caning or any combination of these punishments.