http://www.edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/news/news/1201416/Teacher_threw_SD_cards_laptop_in_cover_up_bid.html
But Bertrand Ngien Wen-Tseah, 37, hid a dark, dirty secret. He was a peeping Tom.
Instead of respecting and protecting the girls in his school, he leered at them in their most private moments.
Ngien had a well-worked routine. In the morning, he would leave pin-hole cameras carefully hidden in a girls' toilet, which was also used by staff members.
At the end of the work day, he would collect the SD memory card for his viewing pleasure.
Close to tears, Ngien pleaded guilty yesterday to three charges, including insulting the modesty of a woman, for offences committed on Feb 15. Another five charges are being taken into consideration.
What was even more troubling is the thought and planning that he put into his crimes and his attempts to cover up later. Ngien got rid of the evidence when the cameras were discovered.
Ngien, who taught at a secondary school in Jurong, had hidden a pin-hole camera at each of the three cubicles inside a female toilet at 7am on Feb 15
At 1pm, Ngien realised the cameras had been discovered when he walked past the school's general office and noticed the cameras on the table of the operations manager.
The cameras contained footage of victims not just from that day, but also from an earlier occasion.
Ngien decided to hide his crime.
He waited till there was no one in the general office and, at about 2pm, entered the operations manager's room. He removed the memory cards from the cameras and left the school.
When the operations manager returned to his room, he realised the cards were missing.
Checking the entry and exit records to his office via the school's card reader system, he discovered that Ngien had accessed the office.
School authorities called Ngien at about 4pm, demanding he return to school immediately.
Ngien did so an hour later, but not before throwing the memory cards into a canal.
He was then interviewed by the principal, vice-principal and other senior teachers, and admitted to placing the cameras and removing the cards.
The principal said she would be making a police report and told him to go home.
Ngien left but took a laptop issued to him by the Ministry of Education - the same laptop he had used to view his movies - and threw it down the kitchen rubbish chute at his Clementi home.
The other two charges he faced yesterday were destroying evidence and mischief by destroying the laptop.
At the time of his offences, Ngien's wife had been hospitalised several months for psychological problems.
Ngien is now receiving treatment from both a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
A medical report to the court stated he had depression and suggested that he may have voyeuristic tendencies as well.
Sentencing has been postponed to July 25.
For insulting the modesty of a woman, Ngien may bejailed for up to a year, or fined, or both.
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