SINGAPORE, Aug 13 — Muhammad Faisal Jumahat spotted an 11-year-old girl walking along a sheltered linkway between a car park and a playground, he walked towards her and flashed his genitals at her.

After he was arrested for this, the police found hundreds of upskirt videos and clips of Faisal masturbating in various public places between 2015 and 2021.

Yesterday, the 36-year-old was sentenced to 14 months’ jail after pleading guilty to four charges: Sexual exposure to a minor under the age of 14, committing an obscene act, intruding on the privacy of women and voyeurism.

Another five charges were taken into consideration during sentencing: One of possession of obscene films, two of intruding on the privacy of women and two of using criminal force to outrage modesty.

The victim cannot be named due to a court order protecting her identity.

‘Addicted to thrill’

On Aug 2, 2021 at around 1.30pm, the girl was walking home from school in Bukit Panjang when she spotted Faisal walking towards her along the walkway

As he walked past her, he pulled down his pants to expose his private parts without uttering a word.

"The victim was shocked upon seeing the accused’s exposed penis, and thereafter reported the incident to her mother and her teacher at the student-care centre below her (housing) block,” Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ashley Chin told the court.

The girl’s mother then called the police, who later arrested Faisal on Aug 18, 2021.

He later admitted that he did it because he was "addicted to the excitement of exposing” his private parts to strangers.

After his arrest, the police confiscated from him a mobile phone, two laptops and three hard disks.

These contained 410 obscene films and 358 upskirt videos of various women’s private parts that he took between Nov 5, 2015 and Aug 5, 2021.

The police also found two videos of Faisal exposing his private parts on a crowded MRT train. In the videos, he had stood "in such a way that the female standing in front of him with her back facing him would unknowingly bump into (him)”, the court heard.

Another 141 videos of Faisal masturbating were also found in his confiscated devices. He had recorded these in various public places such as on MRT and LRT trains, at public libraries and the void decks of public housing blocks.

The videos were all framed in such a way that a female victim would be captured in the background of all 141 videos as the accused performed the obscene act, DPP Chin said.

However, the female victims in the videos were unaware of what he was doing.

Faisal admitted that he took these videos because he was "addicted to the thrill” of committing these acts in public in front of unsuspecting persons.

He said that he filmed the videos for his own viewing and had no intention to distribute them.

DPP Chin sought a jail term of 15 to 18 months, describing Faisal’s actions as "egregious and sustained”.

She also pointed out that he had been offending for seven years — having taken the videos between 2015 and 2021.

The defence lawyer sought a shorter sentence of 13 to 16 months’ jail, adding that Faisal is remorseful and wants to be a law-abiding citizen after serving his sentence.

Faisal has also sought help from a counsellor and is "very intent on not reoffending”, his lawyer said.

For sexual exposure of a minor under the age of 14, Faisal could have been jailed up to two years and fined or caned.

For committing an obscene act, the maximum punishment is jail for up to three months or a fine, or both.

For intruding on the privacy of women, the maximum punishment is a year’s jail or a fine, or both.

The penalty for voyeurism is a jail term of up to two years, caning or a fine, or any combination of such punishments.

With the amalgamated charges of committing an obscene act, intruding on the privacy of women and voyeurism, Faisal could have been punished with up to double the maximum sentence. — TODAY