Teen Who Took Private Pictures Of Men In Urinals Was 'Curious About Guys'

A 22-year-old who secretly recorded photos and videos of at least 15 men using toilets at various public locations around Singapore when he was a teenager said in court Thursday he was "curious about guys."

Shaun Lim Xu Sheng was given 18 months probation sentence for offenses he committed between Feb. 23 and March 7, 2019, when he was a college student, Straits Times reported.

The probation requires him to remain indoors from 10 p.m. ET to 6:00 a.m. ET every day and perform 80 hours of community service. He was being held against a $5,000 bond. Sheng was awarded probation after he pled guilty to four counts of being a public nuisance and one count under the Protection from Harassment Act.

Sheng had allegedly taken a total of 13 videos and 19 photos of men using toilets at various locations including the National University of Singapore (NUS), Compass One Shopping Centre in Sengkang and Nex mall in Serangoon, the outlet reported.

On one occasion on Feb. 23, 2019, Sheng placed his mobile phone in a toilet cubicle at the Compass One Shopping Centre and took multiple photos and videos of an unsuspecting victim. Two days later, on Feb. 25, Sheng was back at it again at NSU where he recorded two men without their knowledge while they were urinating. He stood beside the victims, pretending to use the urinals as his camera recorded them. Sheng was even accused of pointing his phone in the direction of a man's genitals in a toilet in Sengkang Community Hub.

"After the man saw that the accused had recorded him urinating, albeit his (genitals) were not captured in the video, he got upset as he felt harassed and alarmed by what Lim did," Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Lai told the court during Sheng's hearing. Sheng allegedly told the man that it was accidental when the former confronted him, The Diamond Drives reported.

Investigators said that Lim would view what he recorded for a few days before deleting the videos. "He did so because he was curious about guys and (was) exploring his sexuality," Lai told The Star.