The Judiciary Police (PJ) said in a statement yesterday that they arrested recently a 25-year-old tutorial centre staff member for secretly taking a video of a female pupil using the toilet at her school.
According to the statement, the male suspect, surnamed Ho, is a local resident. The statement said that Ho had once been presented to the Judiciary Police for alleged child sexual abuse. The statement did not elaborate on the previous case.
The statement said the Judiciary Police were informed through the “School Safety Network” last Thursday that a female pupil saw a man secretly filming her when she was using the toilet at her school in the central district. The statement did not disclose the age of the victim.
The School Safety Network is a programme set up by the Judiciary Police in 2008 to provide closer communication between the police and education institutions.
According to the statement, the schoolgirl saw the man using his mobile phone in the gap of the toilet cubicle to film her using the toilet. The statement said the girl then told her teacher about it and the teacher immediately reported the case to the police through the internet.
After arresting the suspect, he confessed to the crime and even admitted that he had previously committed similar offences more than five times, the statement said. The statement added that in the latest case the suspect lied to the school’s security guard about attending one of the school’s events and hid in the female toilets to secretly film girls using the toilets.
The statement said that the suspect was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing invasion of privacy charges. According to the statement, the Judiciary Police will continue to investigate if there were more victims involved in the latest case.
The statement said that the police were planning to organise lectures about sexual assault and ways to seek help to increase awareness about self-protection. The statement also encouraged pupils to report any such cases to their teachers, police officers or parents.
In a separate statement, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) deplored the suspect’s crime. The statement pointed out that the suspect revealed that he worked for a private tutorial centre which was not properly registered.
In the statement, the bureau warned that it’s illegal to operate an unlicensed tutorial centre. The statement also said that there is a list of approved tutorial institutions on the DSEJ website, adding that parents should be careful when selecting a tutorial centre for their child.
