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Sentencing expected Thursday in Wheaton College 'spy camera' case

The emotional reactions of several young women learning they were filmed in their most private moments were replayed on a video Wednesday in a DuPage County courtroom.

The video was shown only to the judge and a Wheaton detective who was testifying, but the audio portion could be heard throughout the courtroom.

Several of the women on the video sobbed as they learned from a Wheaton College security officer that a wristwatch secretly placed in their bathroom by a male friend had been recording them use the washroom and shower for months. No one knew at the time the watch still was recording their reactions.

Prosecutors played the video and pieces of 47 others to open the sentencing hearing for former Wheaton College student Alexander Lim.

Lim, 25, now of Connecticut, pleaded guilty earlier this year to placing a watch “spy camera” in the bathroom of a college-owned apartment so he could secretly record a group of women he called friends. He then shared several of the files online where each was viewed thousands of times.

He faces up to five years in prison when his sentencing hearing resumes at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The Singapore citizen has been free on $75,000 bail and allowed to live with family in Connecticut.

Assistant State's Attorney Enza LaMonica said a female student called Wheaton College campus police on Feb. 22, 2015, when she noticed what appeared to be a watch facing directly toward her as she showered. The woman also noticed the watch had a camera on its face.

Wheaton Detective Andrew Uhlir said an investigation found the camera was filled with video and photo files of the three women who lived in the apartment undressing and showering since October 2014.

Searches of his phone and personal computers also turned up photos and videos Lim had taken up women's skirts at church, in school and at various other locations,

“There is nothing more personal than what you do behind closed doors,” LaMonica told Judge John Kinsella. “But this defendant is a sex addict and he will stop at nothing.”

Lim's attorney, Stephen Richards, argued his client's “obsessive and compulsive sex addict behavior” is likely caused by an epileptic condition that Lim now controls with medication.

“He will never be the person he was after seeing what he has done to these girls,” Richard said.

Lim apologized to his victims for being “swept away by self-destructive lust” and said he valued the time he spent as their friend.

Richards is seeking probation for Lim, which likely would include Lim being immediately deported to Singapore.

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