Singapore
SINGAPORE — A 49-year-old man was jailed for two months on Friday (Aug 26) for molesting a 13-year-old girl in school uniform while on a bus before sunrise.
SINGAPORE — A 49-year-old man was jailed for two months on Friday (Aug 26) for molesting a 13-year-old girl in school uniform while on a bus before sunrise.
Chong Swee Shyan, a Singaporean who works as a technician, was on bus service 163 travelling along Sengkang East Avenue at about 6.50am on July 6 last year.
He was standing on the lower deck of the bus, together with the victim, who was wearing her school’s physical education T-shirt and a skirt that was part of the school uniform.
The girl cannot be named due to a court order protecting her identity.
Court documents showed that Chong initially stood directly across from her, but moved next to her on her right side because he had the urge to touch her.
He then deliberately brushed his left hand over her skirt, on the girl’s upper buttock area near her right hip bone.
When she looked at him, he did not look back at her.
After she looked away, he repeated his action before he alighted from the bus.
The girl made a police report on July 18 last year, stating that she was molested as the bus was approaching Renjong LRT Station in Sengkang.
Chong was later arrested.
He refuted any wrongdoing at first and claimed that he had bumped into the girl due to the motion of the bus.
On Friday, he pleaded guilty to one count of outrage of modesty.
In seeking a minimum three-month jail sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin said that the victim in this case was a vulnerable one due to her age.
“The offender could not have mistaken this, as the victim was in her school uniform,” he said.
The other aggravating factor was that it took place on public transport.
Even though Chong’s guilty plea saved the victim from having to relive the ordeal during a trial, DPP Bin pointed out that the man had initially sought to distance himself from the offence by denying wrongdoing in front of investigators.
For outrage of modesty of a person under 14, Chong could have been jailed up to five years, fined, caned or given a combination of the three punishments.
He will begin serving his sentence on Sept 26.
Read more of the latest in
Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.
By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.
Copyright 2022 © Mediacorp Pte Ltd. All rights reserved.
We know it’s a hassle to switch browsers but we want your experience with TODAY to be fast, secure and the best it can possibly be.
To continue, upgrade to a supported browser or, for the finest experience, download the mobile app.
Upgraded but still having issues? Contact us