Jail for retiree who sexually assaulted boy, 12, in a Tampines park toilet

SINGAPORE — A 63-year-old retiree was sentenced to eight years behind bars on Friday (July 21), after he was found guilty of sexual assault by penetration of a person under 14.

Chua Hock Leong, who is married with two grown-up children, met his male victim, who was then 12, in January last year. The two did not know each other before the meeting.

After enticing the boy with $2 to follow him, they went to a toilet cubicle at the Tampines Eco Park. There, he made the boy, who cannot be named due to a court order, perform sexual acts on him for a minute, without the youngster’s consent.

Chua, who was a technician with SIA Engineering for over 38 years, had claimed trial in the High Court on Tuesday, denying that he had committed the acts.

In arguing for a jail term of no less than 12 years and a further 24 weeks behind bars in lieu of caning, the prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Nicholas Lai, argued on Friday that a significant custodial sentence was warranted given the “gravity of the offences in question”.

He also urged the court to take into account the fact that there had been a “significant level” of premeditation on Chua’s part.

“(Chua’s) actions were not merely opportunistic, but committed with careful thought,” the prosecution argued, adding that he had “incentivised the victim to follow him by giving him S$2 as a reward for following him to Tampines Eco Park”.

Calling Chua’s actions “conscious, considered and deliberate”, DPP Lai said that the retiree had told his victim about his sexual escapades, “which…also mentally prepared or accustomed the victim into accepting that deviate sexual acts were normal”.

He added that Chua had cast aspersions on the boy’s testimony, by claiming that it was the youngster who had engaged in “highly sexualised talk…first”.

Another aggravating factor was that the offence was committed in a public place, in broad daylight. “It would be no exaggeration to say that the actions of the accused had gravely undermined the victim’s rightful sense of comfort and security.”

In his victim impact statement which was read out in court, the boy said that he used to be a friendly person, but could no longer trust people as a result of the incident. He feared talking to strangers, and was particularly afraid of older Chinese men.

The victim said he was also wary of returning to Tampines Eco Park. When his friends wanted to go to the park, he had to “pretend nothing happened and go with them…even though I did not want”, he said.

He would also avoid going to the toilet there, even when he really needed to use it.

“I feel that life is no longer the same for me,” the victim’s statement read. “I don’t know why old man can do such thing to young man and whenever I think of it, I felt sad.”

Defence counsel Vijay Kumar said in mitigation that it was Chua’s first brush with the law, a “one-off and foolish incident”.

He added that the victim was a “clever and street-smart person”, even though he was just 12 when the offence took place.

In sentencing Chua, Justice Choo Han Teck said that he had taken into account the nature of the offence, and that this was the first time that Chua had committed an offence.

For sexual assault by penetration on a person under 14, Chua could have been jailed for between eight and 20 years. He cannot be caned as he is above 50 years of age.