Man gets jail for using spy cameras to film tenant changing her clothes, using toilet

SINGAPORE — A 68-year-old man installed eight spy cameras throughout his apartment that recorded and live-streamed videos of his female tenant to his phone for his sexual gratification.

When Daniel Poon Lee was caught after she discovered one of the cameras, he also had in his possession 49 still images of his tenant in various states of undress.

On July 16, he was sentenced to 10 months' jail after pleading guilty to two counts of voyeurism. One more similar charge was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The victim, a 29-year-old woman, moved into the apartment in January 2019. She took the common room, while Poon and his wife used the master bedroom.

The victim cannot be named due to a gag order imposed by the court to protect her identity.

When the tenant was not around, Poon would unlock her room with his master key and enter her room. He did this at least once a month from the time she moved in, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Chong.

Poon would inform her subsequently that he had helped to perform chores, such as changing the lightbulb, cleaning the fan or mopping the floor. He would also cook for her occasionally.

While the woman was initially uncomfortable with his actions, she eventually accepted them as acts of kindness, rationalising that he could be bored spending the entire day at home.

Between April 2020 and January 2021, Poon went online to order and install eight spy cameras within the flat.

Inside the woman's room, Poon installed one camera inside a USB socket and another in the air-conditioning duct.

Outside her room, one camera was located inside the water heater of the shower, three in the living room, one in the kitchen, and another in his own bedroom.

All eight were connected and linked to his phone, on which he viewed live footage through a mobile application.

The cameras would record footage continuously until the memory card was full.

DPP Ng said between December 2020 and April 2021, Poon recorded multiple videos of the woman using the toilet or changing in her room.

He also stored at least 49 images from the videos in his desktop computer.

On April 21, 2021, the woman was in her room when she spotted a small hole in the wall under the air-conditioning duct.

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At first, she thought that the hole was made by insects, but discovered later that there was a glass particle and a red light in it.

Suspecting it might be a camera, she took a video of the hole and sent it to her boyfriend, cousin, supervisor and colleagues.

The woman's boyfriend arrived at the flat around an hour later and verified it was a camera with a USB connection. He then called the police. Poon was not home at the time.

The woman's cousin also went to the flat shortly afterwards and checked the toilet for cameras but could not find any before the police arrived.

DPP Ng said Poon's degree of planning and premeditation in this case was extremely high, as he had purposely hidden the cameras to the extent that even someone with the intention to find a hidden camera did not manage to do so.

During investigations, Poon told the police officers he installed the cameras to monitor what the tenant was doing inside her room, the prosecution added.

The police's annual crime statistics, released on Feb 19, showed that cases of voyeurism were on the rise.

There were 476 such cases reported in 2023, a 12 per cent increase from the 424 cases reported in 2022. The top three locations where voyeurs struck were residential premises, shopping complexes and on public transport.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.