Prominent Catholic figure’s sexual offences: Gag order retained as victims' protection is 'paramount interest', says AGC

SINGAPORE — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on Monday (June 6) said that its “paramount interest” is to protect victims, and that a gag order it had applied for in a sexual offence case involving a Catholic figure was not sought to “protect the interests of the accused person, or of the Catholic Order involved”.

In a media statement, the AGC said that the gag order was “specifically to protect the identity of the victims”.

The AGC said this in response to a statement released on the website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore the previous day pertaining to a case where a notable member of a Catholic order was jailed for committing sexual acts on two teenage boys.

The communications office of Archbishop William Goh, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Singapore, said in its statement on Sunday that its request to partially lift a gag order on the case was rejected by AGC.

It had asked AGC to partially lift the gag order in relation to the identity of the offender, the name of the religious order to which he belonged, and the details of the offender's subsequent treatment and posting.