Low Yan Long, 34, pleaded guilty to two charges of doing an obscene act in public. (Photo: Getty)

SINGAPORE — A man who masturbated and urinated into female residents’ shoes at HDB blocks was on Thursday (24 October) fined $5,000 at the State Courts.

Low Yan Long, 34, pleaded guilty to two charges of doing an obscene act in public.

Low, who held part-time jobs at a casket company and a fast-food restaurant, also admitted to two counts of mischief and causing damage to property which were considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Low had been feeling stressed due to work and family matters, and turned to looking for women’s shoes at HDB blocks.

“The accused did so because he was sexually aroused when he saw and smelt ladies shoes as he would imagine beautiful women wearing the shoes,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Foo.

“When he found such shoes, he would masturbate and urinate in the shoes as a way to relieve stress,” the prosecutor added.

Masturbated into shoe

On 22 January, Low went to a HDB block in Toa Payoh after work.

“Feeling stressed due to pressures at home, the accused decided to masturbate with a lady’s shoe to relieve his stress. Thus, he went up to the said block in search of a lady’s shoe to masturbate with,” said DPP Foo.

At about 7pm, he found a pair of shoes placed outside a home. Low picked up the footwear and went to the staircase landing, where he unzipped his pants and used a handkerchief to cover his groin area.

He placed his penis in one of the shoes and masturbated before leaving the shoes at the staircase landing and leaving the scene.

At about 9pm, the shoe owner’s husband was told by a neighbour about the footwear at the staircase landing.

The husband reviewed footage from the CCTV outside his home, which captured Low doing the obscene act. He reported the matter to the police at a neighbourhood police centre two days later. Low was arrested a week later, on 30 January.

The shoes were eventually thrown away.

Urinated into shoe

While out on bail for the earlier offence, Low went on to commit a similar crime.

On 28 July, Low’s colleague at the casket company dropped him off at a bus stop in Ang Mo Kio after work. He then walked to a HDB block closest to the bus stop.

At about 12 noon, Low went looking for a pair of shoes to masturbate with. After a 20-minute search, he came across a pair of red shoes placed on a shoe rack outside a unit.

Low picked up one of the shoes, smelt it, unzipped his pants and rubbed his penis on the shoe. He then urinated into the shoe, before placing it back onto the shoe rack and leaving the scene.

His actions were captured on a CCTV camera installed outside the home of the shoe owner’s neighbour.

The shoe owner’s husband was told by the neighbour that someone had urinated into his wife’s shoe. The husband then viewed the CCTV footage and called the police.

Low was arrested the next day after he attended a court mention in relation to the 22 January incident.

A government psychiatrist found that Low was not suffering from any mental illness and that his offences were “the result of his dysfunctional and sexually deviant way of dealing with stress”.

District Judge Seah Chi-Ling allowed Low to pay his fine in instalments until April. If he fails to cough up the amount, he will have to serve a four-week jail term.

The maximum punishment for doing an obscene act in public is up to three months’ jail along with a fine.

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