A male pupil was caught surreptitiously filming a woman in a toilet in the city centre on Monday, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Choi, the local pupil, who is a minor, studies at a school in the city centre. Choi didn’t reveal the pupil’s age or surname.
Choi said that on Monday afternoon, a Hong Kong woman went to a shopping centre in the city centre with her boyfriend. While the woman was using the toilet there, she spotted a smartphone on her right inside the cubicle. Shocked, the woman ran out of the cubicle and saw the pupil holding the phone. She shouted to her boyfriend who was outside, who rushed into the toilet, and caught the perpetrator. The woman later called the police.
PSP officers arrived at the scene and questioned the pupil. He admitted that he was attempting to videotape the woman in the toilet. However, as he was nervous at that time, he didn’t press the record button and didn’t record anything.
Officers took the pupil to a police station for questioning, and on his smartphone the police found that he had taken over 200 videos surreptitiously in toilets since December 2017.
He said that the videos were taken in the women’s toilets of his school and a commercial centre in the northern district, claiming that he took the videos because he was under stress by tests and exams, and he obtained pleasure from doing the filming, according to Choi.
He also told the police that he didn’t post any of the videos online, Choi said.
According to Choi, the woman from Hong Kong declined to file a criminal complaint. However, with the over 200 videos, the police managed to identify six other females – all locals – who confirmed that they were the victims in the tapes. The six asked for the culprit to be prosecuted.
The age of criminal responsibility in Macau is 16.
Choi underlined that the police were trying to identify other possible victims.
Choi noted that the Public Security Police went to the perpetrator’s home and seized a laptop as evidence in the crime, adding that the police have notified the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) over the incident.
Choi said that the pupil has meanwhile been transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for further investigation, facing a charge of illicit filming, according to Article 191 of the Macau Penal Code, carrying a maximum prison term of two years.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin speaks during yesterday’s press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. Photo: Joel Chu
