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SINGAPORE – A man was convicted on Wednesday (December 9) of sexually abusing a subordinate in 2016 when he was a senior public official in a government body related to education.
The 67-year-old Singaporean had previously sought a trial on six counts of sexual abuse involving the victim and another woman.
On Wednesday, District Judge John Ng found him guilty of sexually abusing the victim, who was then 55 years old.
The man was acquitted of the other five charges of sexual abuse related to another woman, who was then 43 years old.
The man, who has since retired, still has three other pending sexual abuse charges involving the older woman and these will be dealt with at a later date.
Details about the offender, the government body and the position he held cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect the women’s identities.
In delivering his verdict on Wednesday, the judge said there were “material inconsistencies” between the young woman’s police statement and her evidence in court.
Judge Ng, however, found the older woman’s evidence to be “compelling and reliable.”
The court heard that the man targeted the older woman in mid-2016 by hugging her tightly.
In their filings, Assistant Prosecutors Goh Yi Ling and Emily Koh said that they did not dare to confront him as he did not want to jeopardize their work.
They added: “The workplace must be a safe environment free from sexual harassment.
“Paradoxically, when the perpetrator is the immediate supervisor himself, the horrors of sexual harassment are exacerbated by the inherent power dynamics that protect the perpetrator and drown the victims in silence.”
The woman was “emotionally traumatized” to the point that “the mere mention of his name” or an email from him would make her “freak out”.
In late 2016, the court heard that he developed a “series of serious health problems,” including a persistent cough that affected his lungs, heart palpitations and a chronic migraine.
The DPP added: “On one occasion, she passed out in the office, requiring an ambulance. Her mental health was also affected and she became ‘very depressed.’
“At one point, he committed suicide. His deteriorating relationship with the defendant and increasing difficulties in working with him proved to be additional stressors that culminated in his health ‘bottoming out’ in 2017.”
The man had been accused of sexually abusing the young woman between March and September 2016 through acts such as hugging her tightly and pressing her private parts against her right arm.
The court heard that sometime in December 2017, the victim approached the younger woman and told her that she was under tremendous stress caused by the man.
DPPs said that in a casual conversation in March 2018, the older woman suddenly asked the younger woman if she had a problem with him “touching” her.
The couple had a meeting with their other seniors on March 28, 2018, and police were alerted.
The man is represented by attorneys Gary Low, Terence Tan and Victor Lau of the Drew & Napier law firm.
During the trial, he testified that he hugged the young woman only twice and that she was the one who initiated them.
He told the court that the older woman had also initiated a hug on one occasion.
The man’s bail was set at $ 15,000 on Wednesday and he is expected to be sentenced on January 4 of next year.
For sexual abuse, an offender can be imprisoned for up to two years and fined or punished. The man cannot be spanked because he is over 50 years old.
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