A male police officer in Nantou County, Taiwan, secretly used his phone to film a female police officer showering at the police station dormitory's shared bathroom for two consecutive nights. He was later discovered by the female officer. After going to court, the male officer was ordered to pay 600,000 TWD (approximately 75,600 MYR) in compensation.
According to a Liberty Times report on the 25th, the verdict stated that Zhang, the male officer employed at a certain police precinct in Nantou County, after using the restroom at about 4am on March 19 last year, went to the shared bathroom to wash up and found a female officer showering inside. He then took out his phone and reached over the top of the door to secretly film three video clips. Around midnight the following day, he again went to the bathroom to secretly film the same female officer showering. After filming two more clips, the female officer noticed and screamed. Surveillance footage was reviewed, pointing to Zhang as the suspect, and his phone was examined, confirming the existence of these videos.
The Nantou District Court convicted him of the crime of unlawfully recording sexually intimate images and sentenced him to two prison terms of 3 months each. The prosecution was dissatisfied and appealed, resulting in the Taichung High Court in March this year increasing the sentence to two terms of 5 months each, for a total of 8 months to be served.
The affected female police officer suffered severe physical and psychological trauma due to the incident, falling into long-term anxiety, fear, and humiliation, and her trust in the workplace was shattered. She filed a criminal incidental civil lawsuit, seeking 2 million TWD (approximately 252,000 MYR) in emotional distress damages.
● Male Officer: Diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder
Zhang admitted to the offense and argued that he had been diagnosed with adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressive mood and was under treatment. He claimed he would not offend again and also had young children and elderly parents to support, requesting the court to reduce compensation to 150,000 to 200,000 TWD.
The Nantou District Court judge considered that Zhang, as a law enforcement officer, did not abide by the law but instead used his position and access to repeatedly and secretly film extremely private images of another person showering, which severely infringed upon her privacy and dignity. The trauma suffered by the victim was deemed extremely serious, and Zhang was ordered to pay 600,000 TWD in damages.