High Court overturns acquittals in the case of company director who molested work subordinate

SINGAPORE: A man who was acquitted of three charges of molestation and insulting modesty after a trial in the State Courts has had his acquittals overturned by a High Court judge, following an appeal by the prosecution.

Tan Chee Beng, 56, has now been convicted of three charges of molestation and one charge of insulting a woman's modesty.

Across three separate occasions, he pulled the victim's hand towards his groin, slid his hand along her back and up the side of her chest, swiped his hand on her groin area twice and 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 protected, lost her job after making a report against Tan, who was one of the directors of the company.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

Tan claimed trial in the State Courts in November 2020.

District Judge Ng Peng Hong found Tan guilty only of one charge of molestation and acquitted him of the other three charges. He sentenced Tan to five months' jail, but both Tan and the prosecution appealed.

In the High Court on Wednesday (Dec 21), Justice Vincent Hoong found that the district judge had erred in his assessment and convicted Tan of the three charges he had been acquitted of.

The defence argued that the victim had a motive to frame Tan, suggesting that she concocted the allegations to have a hold over him, as she was afraid Tan would fire her over her mistakes.

Defence lawyer Chooi Jing Yen also argued that the victim had filed the police report belatedly and continued to accept car rides from Tan, willingly placing herself in circumstances where she would be alone and in close proximity to Tan.

He said it was questionable that the victim failed to confide in any of her close friends or family members about the incidents.

Justice Hoong found that there were good reasons for the victim's delay in reporting the matter. First, she was afraid to lose her job, which she really needed as she was a single mother with children.

Second, she had confronted Tan and he apologised, so she thought things would go back to normal.

"It is worth reiterating ... that victims of sexual crimes cannot be straightjacketed in the expectation that they must act or react in a certain manner," said Justice Hoong, citing another judgment. 

He 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 wished to retain her job.

Rejecting his offers could have soured relations, said the judge.

VICTIM'S FAILURE TO SCREAM 'AN IMPROPER FINDING'

The lower court judge had found that the victim's failure to scream during any of the incidents impugned her credibility.

"With respect, this was an improper finding to make," said Justice Hoong.

Referring to another judgment, he said the court then observed that academic literature shows that at the moment of sexual assault, "a substantial number of victims may experience 'tonic immobility', which is an involuntary temporary state of inhibition".

"The fact of the matter is that victims to sexual assault regardless of age, level of maturity or even gender cannot be expected to react in a uniform way," said Justice Hoong.

He found that the prosecution had proven its case for all four charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

THE CONSISTENCY OF THE VICTIM'S EVIDENCE

While the lower court judge had found that the victim's evidence was not unusually convincing, with purported inconsistencies and omissions, Justice Hoong thought otherwise.

He said that the victim's evidence was consistent and corroborated by other witnesses, on a careful and holistic analysis of the facts.

No contradictory evidence was given that cast doubt on the victim's account, mainly because Tan had chosen not to take the stand, said Justice Hoong.

He said the victim's account remained consistent even when she was faced with difficult and directed questions from the defence.

She did not overstate her evidence, and made concessions such as her inability to remember exactly when the first incident occurred.

Her testimony was also consistent with the police report she lodged in January 2019, said Justice Hoong.

He pointed to the corroborative evidence from the victim's colleague, whom she told about each incident shortly 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 victim was terminated shortly after she lodged a police report against Tan. This was attributed to her taking 14 days of unapproved unpaid leave.

Another company director sent stern messages to Tan after finding out that the victim had been terminated, reflecting the injustice he felt for the victim.

The judge ordered both sides to file sentencing submissions for Tan. He will be sentenced at a later date.