• Ran Wei Dong was convicted of molesting a paralegal at Kang Foot Wellness in 2019
• She testified that he touched her inappropriately after he massaged her feet
• He asked her to go to a massage bed that was separated by a curtain
• He still faces a second charge of molesting another woman there in 2020
   

SINGAPORE — A 35-year-old owner of a massage establishment in JCube mall was sentenced to one year and two months’ jail and three strokes of the cane on Tuesday (July 13) for molesting a female customer two years ago.

Ran Wei Dong, a Singapore permanent resident, was found guilty of one outrage of modesty charge earlier this year after contesting the charge. 

His lawyer Terence Tan said that Ran intends to file an appeal and remains out on bail in the meantime.

Ran, who runs Kang Foot Wellness in the mall in Jurong East, molested a paralegal, now aged 24.

The woman went there for a foot massage on May 3, 2019 after her female friend recommended the place to her. 

Ran still faces a second charge of molesting a 39-year-old woman on Dec 25 last year by touching her chest, inner thighs and back during a massage session. Mr Tan told the court that his client has not decided what to do with this allegation yet.

Both women cannot be named due to court orders to protect their identities.

The younger woman testified that she went to Kang Foot Wellness to relieve her pain from practising Muay Thai.

She agreed to pay S$35 for a 40-minute foot massage. Ran told her to wash her legs, gave her a pair of shorts and asked her to wear them instead of her own jeans.

He then massaged her feet in an open area of the shop but also targeted her thighs without asking for her consent.

At Ran’s suggestion, they moved from the massage chair to a massage bed, which was separated by a curtain.

He had already massaged her legs for more than 20 minutes past the allotted period.

She testified that he had told her he could “press” her waist in order to alleviate her ankle pain. She told the court that she agreed because he sounded like “he knew what he was doing”.

After rolling up her shorts to expose her buttock, he molested her. 

She tried to move away and told him in Mandarin: “Enough.” 

However, he did not stop and moved on to the other leg and molested her again.

During the trial, Ran claimed that he could have accidentally touched her inappropriately. His testimony also contradicted his statement to the police where he stated that he pulled her shorts up and made contact with her buttocks.

The victim testified that she did not stop him out of fear of being further assaulted. 

She said that he also asked her how old she was and then told her that he thought she was 16 or 17 years old.

The next day, her male friend accompanied her to the outlet and asked Ran what he did. 

Ran said to her friend: “You need to know your girlfriend is very pretty.”

She filed a police report at Choa Chu Kang Neighbourhood Police Centre a day after the incident.

Ran then approached the female friend who had recommended that the woman get a massage from him, to ask if she would drop the charges against him and accept compensation out of court.

The victim testified that she began falling ill after the molestation and is afraid to take public transport to work for fear of crowded places.

Ran will return to court on Aug 10 for a pre-trial conference over his second charge.

For molestation, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or received any combination of the three.