Jail for NTU student who recorded video of woman in campus toilet, took photos of others showering

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Apr 12, 2024

A Nanyang Technological University (NTU) student went to its aquatic centre several times in 2022 and took four pictures of unknown women while they were showering in cubicles.

In March 2023, Jonathan Ong Wei Xiang recorded a video of a 23-year-old woman while she was using a toilet on campus.

She spotted his mobile phone and the police were alerted soon after.

On April 12, Ong, 25, was sentenced 10 weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism and one count of obstruction of justice.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, NTU said that its general practice is to start disciplinary proceedings only after the conclusion of the court case.

Without revealing details, its spokesperson added: “The university takes a serious view of all criminal offences, and any student who is found guilty will be subject to disciplinary action.”

Ong took the four pictures of women showering between Sept 16 and Nov 1, 2022.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo told the court: “The accused (took) these images by positioning his mobile phone through the bottom opening of the partition between each shower cubicle... to record the victims doing a private act without their consent.”

Shortly before 11pm on March 4, 2023, he went to a toilet on campus and recorded a video of the 23-year-old woman while she was inside a cubicle by holding his phone over the ledge of an adjacent cubicle.

The woman yelled when she spotted the device. Ong withdrew the phone, left the premises and deleted the video. He got rid of the clip to obstruct the course of justice, the court heard.

The DPP said: “(The woman) was shocked and remained in the toilet cubicle. She immediately sent text messages to (a man) to tell him what had happened. She was unable to leave the cubicle for at least five minutes due to the shock.”

The matter was later reported to NTU’s security officers, who alerted the police at around 12.30am on March 5, 2023.

Ong was arrested the next day.

Investigators looked through his phone and found the pictures of the women he had taken at the aquatic centre.