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Man fined for touching female valet who drove him home after drunken night out

SINGAPORE — Finding his valet attractive and wanting to have sex with her, Chan Choon Beng touched her on her upper arms, shoulders, the back of her neck and face over 15 minutes while she drove him home.

Chan Choon Beng touched his victim on her upper arms, shoulders, the back of her neck and face over 15 minutes while she drove him home.

Chan Choon Beng touched his victim on her upper arms, shoulders, the back of her neck and face over 15 minutes while she drove him home.

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  • Chan Choon Beng asked a valet to drive him home in his car
  • He touched her several times from behind her seat 
  • He told investigators he found her attractive and wanted to have sex with her
  • He compensated her after she quit her job over the incident

 

SINGAPORE — Finding his valet attractive and wanting to have sex with her, Chan Choon Beng touched her on her upper arms, shoulders, the back of her neck and face over 15 minutes while she drove him home.

Chan had been out drinking at the time. The incident left the woman unable to sleep well for a month and she later quit her part-time valet job.

On Tuesday (March 23), Chan, 39, was given the maximum S$1,500 fine. 

The self-employed Malaysian pleaded guilty to a single charge of using criminal force on the Singaporean victim, who cannot be named because of a court order to protect her identity.

The charge was reduced from molestation on condition of his guilty plea.

The court heard that Chan would frequent pubs in Jalan Besar to drink alcohol with his friends at least twice a week.

He would sometimes drive his own car and park nearby, then engage a valet to take him home.

He first met the victim in December 2019 after approaching her employer for valet services. She was assigned to drive him home, and the pair later exchanged phone numbers.

On the evening of Feb 11 last year, Chan went to several pubs in Jalan Besar and consumed large amounts of alcohol, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Samuel Chew told the court.

He stopped drinking at about 2am the next day. He called the victim as he was drunk, asking if he could engage her as his valet.

She agreed and went to Syed Alwi Road to pick him up.

During the 22-minute journey, he sat behind her, in the rear of his car. He began touching her after the vehicle entered the Central Expressway.

He persisted even though she demanded that he stop, repeatedly pushed his hands away and leaned sideways to avoid his hands. She also tried to take his photo with her mobile phone but failed.

He stopped only after they reached his home. He paid her S$50 for her services and demanded that she delete the photos that he thought she had taken, or he would sue her.

She called the police.

During investigations, Chan admitted that he committed the crime to convince her to meet him again, because he found her attractive and wanted to sleep with her.

FEARED MEN AFTER INCIDENT

In seeking the maximum fine, DPP Chew noted that the victim had no means of stopping Chan as she was driving, and that his offending behaviour took place over a sustained period.

The prosecutor also referred to a victim impact statement, in which the woman said that she developed a fear or mistrust in men that led her to quit her valet job.

“This psychological harm was especially serious for one month after the incident, when she was unable to sleep well... Nevertheless, we accept there was no need for her to seek psychological help and there was no evidence of long-term impact,” DPP Chew added.

While the prosecutor argued that Chan paid only S$8,000 in compensation to the woman five months after he was charged, Chan’s lawyer Trent Ng said that the defence offered the sum “very early on” and it was adequate for the one month that the woman claimed she did not work.

Mr Ng said that they also made representations for the offence to be settled without having to go to court, but the prosecution rejected this.

Deputy Presiding Judge Jennifer S Marie agreed that the maximum fine was appropriate to “send a signal that this sort of conduct would not be condoned by the law”.

For using criminal force, Chan could have been jailed up to three months or fined up to S$1,500, or both.

Related topics

molest valet court crime drunk

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