Traffic police inspector who molested four NSFs sentenced to jail

SINGAPORE: A traffic police inspector who molested four full-time national servicemen (NSF) was sentenced to jail for 18 months and a week on Monday (Jul 2).

The four men, now aged between 22 and 25, were serving in 2015 as special constables under Mohd Taufik Abu Bakar, now 55.

In September 2015, Taufik told one of the victims, then 19, that his body odour gave him a headache.

He then said he had some hair removal cream that would remove his armpit and pubic hair.

On Sep 13, 2015, Taufik drove the 19-year-old to his home and presented him with hair removal cream and a body scrub.

The teenager then entered the master bedroom toilet to apply the products.

Taufik asked to enter and applied the hair removal cream to his subordinate's right armpit and pubic region without his consent.

The 19-year-old later testified that he felt "frozen", "lost" and could not react. He said he felt like the whole world collapsed on him, "so all he did was comply".

Taufik, who joined the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in 1982, also massaged the young man's naked body.

Other offences he committed include pinching the nipple and grabbing the buttock of a 20-year-old male subordinate, slapping the buttock of another 19-year-old NSF and placing his hand around the waist of an NSF, then 22. He carried out these acts at the traffic police office in 2015.

Taufik's conduct was exposed on Sep 16, 2015 when a few of the victims approached an NS probationary inspector about the incidents.

Pointing to Taufik's "deliberate abuse of his position of trust as a superior", Deputy Public Prosecutor Amanda Chong asked for a sentence of two years and eight months.

She added that he had committed the offences in the course of duty as a law enforcement officer and at times within the premises of a police station.

Taufik, who was the officer in charge of the traffic police's hit-and-run investigation team since 2003, was convicted of six charges of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of the four men. He was acquitted of one count of molesting a fifth special constable.

District Judge Jasvender Kaur sentenced him to jail for 18 months and a week on Monday, inclusive of four weeks' jail in lieu of caning. Taufik cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old.

In a statement to Channel NewsAsia, the police said that Taufik is no longer with SPF.

He was interdicted or suspended from service since Aug 23, 2016, and retired on May 10 last year, after reaching the mandatory retirement age.

"With his conviction, his retirement benefits will be forfeited," said the police spokesman. 

"Officers of SPF are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity," he said. He added that SPF takes "a zero-tolerance approach to officers who break the law" and will deal severely with such officers, including charging them in court. 

The force will also "not hesitate to remove them from their positions".

For assaulting or using criminal force on a person, intending to outrage the modesty of that person, Taufik could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three punishments.