Penalties for sex crimes, maid abuse could go up

SINGAPORE — The Government is reviewing the applicable laws relating to sexual offences against minors as well as the abuse of foreign domestic workers, to better protect these two groups of vulnerable victims.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told Parliament on Monday (April 3) that the review — to be completed this year — would consider whether sentences have to be enhanced, and whether new laws need to be drafted.

Without citing specific cases, he said that the review would be done for offences involving “very young children” preyed upon or otherwise attacked and subjected to sexual abuse.

A separate class of vulnerable victims would be domestic helpers.

Mr Shanmugam said: “They come here, they do the work because we don’t have enough people, but they have to be treated with a certain dignity and a certain respect for the law. They’re not slaves.”

Ms Tin Pei Ling, Member of Parliament (MP) for MacPherson, pressed the minister on the possible outcomes of the review, asking if legislation and penalties would be toughened.

“There wouldn’t be a review ... if we felt that everything was okay as it is. But I shouldn’t jump in and say we should definitely go in a certain direction,” Mr Shanmugam replied.

Asked by MP (Nee Soon GRC) Louis Ng whether the evaluation would include laws related to the mentally disabled, the Minister would only say that the review would be a comprehensive one.

Last month, Mr Shanmugam announced that the Government would be relooking penalties for sex crimes against young victims, after a public scrutiny on the punishment imposed on convicted sexual predator Joshua Robinson.

Robinson, an American working as a mixed martial arts coach in Singapore, was sentenced last month to four years’ jail for offences ranging from sexual penetration of a minor to making an obscene film.

He was found with nearly 6,000 obscene films, of which 321 videos involved child pornography. The case sparked widespread public debate, with many questioning the sentence he received.

The prosecution is not appealing the sentence.

In another case last month, a Singaporean couple was sentenced to jail and fined for starving their Filipino domestic helper.

In the widely publicised case, freelance trader Lim Choon Hong was sentenced to three weeks’ jail and fined S$10,000, while his wife Chong Sui Foon was sentenced to three months’ jail.

Their helper, Thelma Oyasan Gawidan, was given plain bread and instant noodles for her meals twice a day, and she lost around 20kg over just a year.

She was also barred from using the bathrooms in the couple’s home, and had to seek permission to drink water. The prosecution intends to appeal for a stiffer sentence.