SINGAPORE: A guy who was acquitted of three charges associated with molestation and disparaging modesty after a demo in the State Legal courts has had his acquittals overturned by a Higher Court judge, subsequent an appeal from the prosecution.
Tan Chee Beng, 56, has now already been convicted of 3 charges of molestation and one charge associated with insulting a woman’s modesty.
Across three separate occasions, he pulled the particular victim’s hand towards his groin, slid his hand along her back and in the side of the girl chest, swiped his hand on her groin area twice plus told her he had a “hard-on”.
The offences were committed against his subordinate, a single mother, in the office between August 2018 and January 2019.
The victim, whose identity is usually protected, lost her job after making a report against Bronze, who was one of the directors of the company.
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
Tan claimed trial in the State Courts in Nov 2020.
District Judge Ng Peng Hong found Suntan guilty only of one charge of molestation and acquitted your pet of the other three costs. He sentenced Suntan to five months’ jail, but both Tan and the prosecution appealed.
Within the High Court upon Wednesday (Dec 21), Justice Vincent Hoong found that the district judge had erred in his assessment plus convicted Tan from the three charges he previously been acquitted of.
The protection argued that the sufferer had a motive to frame Tan, recommending that she concocted the allegations to have a hold over your pet, as she had been afraid Tan might fire her more than her mistakes.
Defence lawyer Chooi Jing Yen furthermore argued that the victim had filed the authorities report belatedly and continued to accept car rides from Suntan, willingly placing their self in circumstances exactly where she would be solely and in close closeness to Tan.
He said it had been questionable that the target failed to confide in any of her close friends or family members regarding the incidents.
Justice Hoong found there were good reasons for the victim’s delay within reporting the matter. 1st, she was afraid to lose her work, which she actually needed as the girl was a single mother with children.
Second, she had confronted Tan and apologised, so the girl thought things would certainly go back to normal.
“It is worth reiterating… that victims associated with sexual crimes can not be straightjacketed in the requirement that they must react or react in the certain manner, ” said Justice Hoong, citing another view.
He or she said it was “well within the realm of possibilities” that the victim would continue to accept car rides from Tan after the apology as she wanted to retain her job.
Rejecting his offers could have soured relations, said the judge.
VICTIM’S FAILURE TO SHOUT ‘AN IMPROPER FINDING’
The lower court judge had discovered that the victim’s failure to scream during any of the incidents impugned her credibility.
“With respect, it was an improper obtaining to make, ” said Justice Hoong.
Referring to another view, he said the particular court then noticed that academic books shows that at the moment of sexual assault, “a substantial number of sufferers may experience ‘tonic immobility’, which is a good involuntary temporary condition of inhibition”.
“The fact of the matter is the fact that victims to sex assault regardless of age group, level of maturity or even gender cannot be expected to react in a standard way, ” said Justice Hoong.
He found the prosecution had verified its case for many four charges outside of a reasonable doubt.
THE CONSISTENCY OF THE VICTIM’S EVIDENCE
While the lower court judge had discovered that the victim’s proof was not unusually convincing, with purported inconsistencies and omissions, Proper rights Hoong thought or else.
He said that the victim’s proof was consistent and corroborated by various other witnesses, on a cautious and holistic analysis of the facts.
No contradictory proof was given that cast doubt on the victim’s account, mainly because Tan had chosen to not take the stand, stated Justice Hoong.
He said the particular victim’s account remained consistent even when the girl was faced with hard and directed questions from the defence.
She did not overstate her evidence, plus made concessions like her inability to remember exactly when the first incident occurred.
Her testimony was also consistent with the police record she lodged in January 2019, mentioned Justice Hoong.
He pointed towards the corroborative evidence from the victim’s colleague, who she told regarding each incident immediately or immediately after it occurred.
He heard about the first and second incident after the victim ran out of the office crying, and the third incident on the day itself.
The particular victim was ended shortly after she lodged a police survey against Tan. This was attributed to her using 14 days of unapproved unpaid leave.
Another company movie director sent stern text messages to Tan after finding out that the target had been terminated, highlighting the injustice he felt for the target.
The determine ordered both sides to file sentencing distribution for Tan. He can be sentenced at a later time.