Man jailed in Hong Kong for taking upskirt photos on Cathay flight
Hong Kong authorities sentenced a Japanese man to four weeks in jail on Wednesday (7 Jan) for taking upskirt photos of two flight attendants on a Cathay Pacific flight.
The defendant, 46-year-old Onishi Ryu, an IT manager, was on a flight from Osaka to Hong Kong on 24 Nov 2025.
He filmed his victims, a 37-year-old South Korean and a 26-year-old Taiwanese, who were on duty.
He was charged with one count of unlawfully filming or observing private parts. Ryu pleaded guilty.
Source: HK01
Man filmed two flight attendants on duty
At around 7pm, about two hours after the plane took off, Ryu used his phone to take photos of the view outside the window, HK01 reported.
When he placed the phone on his arm, a male passenger behind him noticed that his phone screen showed the flight attendants’ lower bodies for about five minutes.
Image courtesy of antefixus21 on Flickr. For illustration purposes only.
The other passenger then reported the incident to a crew member. However, the defendant quickly deleted the photos.
When the victims asked to see Ryu’s phone, they found five to six photos of their full bodies, skirts, and legs. This prompted them to call the police.
Authorities also found other related photos in the defendant’s recently deleted album. This included a close-up of one of the flight attendants’ skirts.
Man took opportunity while filming the scenery
In a recorded interview, Ryu admitted to the crime. He explained that he was taking pictures of the scenery outside the window when he noticed the flight attendants sitting opposite him.
He revealed that the upskirt photos belonged to the Korean flight attendant. Ryu described her as a beautiful woman with her legs spread.
During mitigation, the defence argued that Ryu only took the opportunity to capture the victim’s sensitive area while taking photos of the scenery.
They requested a short-term sentence of imprisonment, citing that the defendant and his wife have two children and are caring for their elderly parents.
These factors place a significant financial burden on them, Sing Tao Headlines reported.
Additionally, the defence said their client has no previous criminal record,
They added that he cooperated in investigations. Authorities remanded him in custody for four weeks.
In addition to his four-week prison sentence, the court ordered Ryu to pay a HKD10,000 (S$1,600) fine for his crime.
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Featured image adapted from Cathay Pacific for illustration purposes only.
