Man, 20, admits to entering toilets at primary schools and malls to peek at boys
SINGAPORE — After spotting an 11-year-old boy outside a shopping mall, Bryan Tee Jian Peng waited for several weeks before following him to the male toilet, attempting to peek at the boy as he was using the toilet.
However, the boy spotted the 20-year-old’s face over the cubicle wall, and shouted, “I can see you okay!”
Tee fled, but was arrested after he returned to the same toilet the next day.
A pre-sentencing probation suitability report was called for Tee, who pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal trespass and one of theft on Thursday (4 June).
One charge involves Tee trespassing into a primary school with the intent to watch boys relieving themselves in the toilet. He was later caught by a teacher.
Another four counts of trespassing – into another two primary schools on 11 January and 11 June 2018, as well as into male toilets at United Square Shopping Mall and Parkway Parade Shopping Mall on 27 August 2018 and 16 January last year respectively – will be considered for sentencing.
Trailed boy to mall toilet
Sometime in July 2018, Tee saw the then-11-year-old boy outside United Square Shopping Mall. He followed the boy to his tuition centre.
On 23 August 2018, Tee waited in the same mall for the same boy again. At around 5.50pm, he saw the boy walk towards a male toilet and trailed him.
He then entered the cubicle next to the boy’s, stood on top of the toilet bowl and peeked over at the boy’s cubicle while concealing the lower half of his face behind the wall.
Tee observed the boy for a short while, before the boy spotted him and shouted, causing him to flee the toilet and mall.
The next day, Tee returned to the same toilet at the mall. The boy, who was also at the mall, recognised Tee and alerted his father. The father notified the mall’s security officers, and Tee was detained by the officers as he left the toilet. Police were notified, and Tee was arrested that day.
Committed trespassing even while under investigations
Even while he was under investigations, Tee continued to attempt to peek at boys in the toilet.
On 11 October last year, Tee went to a primary school in the eastern part of Singapore. He knew that students will be released earlier on Fridays and hence expected the school to be less crowded.
He then entered the school via the main gate at about 12.15pm, lying to the security guard that he had an appointment with a teacher. He knew the security guard was likely to assume that he was an ex-student given his young age, and that the guard was unlikely to remember his face or closely monitor his movement.
Tee then went to the male toilet on the fifth storey of the school and waited for students. However, when no students appeared, Tee left the toilet but was stopped at a staircase by a teacher. The school then called the police as Tee did not have a legitimate reason for being in the premises.
Threw away neighbour’s shoes, shoe rack
On a separate occasion on 20 July 2018, Tee threw a shoe rack and 12 pairs of shoes belonging to his neighbour into a green rubbish bin at the void deck of his block.
“He had thought that they were not pleasant neighbours and wanted to teach them a lesson,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Phoebe Leau.
Tee’s actions were caught on a police camera. The neighbour found the shoe rack and a pair of shoes beside the green rubbish bin, but was unable to recover 11 other pairs of shoes. A police report was lodged that night.
Tee has since compensated his neighbour $75.
DPP Leau noted that Tee was a young offender, but had trespassed several times even after he was under investigation. The prosecutor did not object to call for a report to assess Tee’s suitability for probation.
Lawyer Laurence Goh, who represented Tee, told District Judge Seah Chi-Ling that he wished to call for the same report.
Tee will return to court on 16 July. For criminal trespass, Tee could have been jailed up to three months, or fined up to $1,500, or both. For theft, Tee could have been jailed up to three years, or fined, or both.
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