Serial offender jailed for molesting 12-year-old schoolgirl near bus stop

SINGAPORE: A serial offender was jailed for 20 months on Thursday (Jul 28) for molesting a 12-year-old schoolgirl near a bus stop in Bendemeer.

Neo Beng Yeow, 56, was also sentenced to an additional 10 days' jail as he reoffended while on a remission order for his previous sentence.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of outraging the girl's modesty, with a second similar charge considered for sentencing.

The victim's identity is protected by gag order.

The court heard that on Jul 23, 2021, Neo approached the victim as she was walking towards a bus stop to meet her friends after school. 

He held her arm and asked if she had eaten. The girl replied no.

Neo then brushed his hand across her chest over her school uniform.

The victim was shocked and hurried towards her friends. Neo also walked towards them and while he was talking to them, one of the victim's friends took a photo of him.

Neo then ran to the bus stop and left on a bus. The victim and two of her friends started crying, and some passers-by stopped to help them. One of them made a police report.

The victim's school vice-principal approached the group at the bus stop a while later and they told her what had happened. The vice-principal then brought them to the school to wait for the police.

Neo has two previous convictions for outrage of modesty, and was sentenced to 15 months in jail each time, Deputy Public Prosecutor Theong Li Han told the court.

In 2017, he kissed a nine-year-old girl on the lips and touched her head. 

In 2019, he hugged and kissed the forehead of a six-year-old girl.

Ms Theong, who sought the sentence imposed, argued that Neo predominantly targeted girls in primary school and would be aware of their ages as they were wearing their school uniforms.

She added that while Neo did not make skin-to-skin contact with the 12-year-old victim, he had intruded upon her private part.

Defence counsels Tan Kah Tian and Shane Goh asked for a shorter sentence of 16 months' jail, arguing that Neo's touch was fleeting and the degree of sexual exploitation was relatively low.

They added that an Institute of Mental Health report indicated Neo would benefit from psychiatric treatment.

They said Neo was willing to undergo such treatment, and that he was remorseful and committed to never offend again.

District Judge Christopher Goh said that Neo's previous convictions for similar offences were the most aggravating factor affecting his sentence.

The punishment for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a child below 14 is up to five years' jail, a fine, caning, or any combination of these punishment.

Neo cannot be caned as he is above 50, and the prosecution did not seek additional jail time in lieu of caning.