Medically unfit: No caning for ex-CEO of MNC who sexually assaulted son’s 9-year-old friend

SINGAPORE — Two months after losing an appeal against his conviction and sentence for sexually assaulting his son’s nine-year-old friend during a Halloween sleepover in 2015, the former chief executive of a multinational company has been certified unfit for caning.

The 49-year-old foreign national, who returned to the High Court in a wheelchair on Tuesday (Oct 22), was sentenced to 14 years’ jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane last year. He lost his appeal in August.

However, prison doctors found him unfit to be caned due to a lumbar spine fracture — stemming from a 2011 incident when he fell off an elephant in Thailand — and multilevel degenerative disc disease, which is an age-related disease that can cause pain in the lower back, hips and legs.

The man, who is serving his jail time and cannot be named to protect his victim’s identity, turns 50 next week. Offenders who are above 50 cannot be caned by law.

He had been found guilty of two counts of sexual assault by penetration of a minor, and another count of aggravated molestation, in relation to the incidents in October 2015.

The prosecution is seeking an additional year of imprisonment in lieu of caning, while the man’s lawyer Selva Kumara Naidu is asking for no extra prison time.

Mr Naidu also told the court that his client wants a mattress in his prison cell due to his medical conditions. But the prison medical officer said in an affidavit on Tuesday that while the mattress could be helpful, it was not “absolutely necessary”.

Justice See Kee Oon gave the lawyer a month to file an affidavit from a doctor, and adjourned the matter to Nov 28.

Separately, the man still faces five charges of sexually abusing another eight-year-old boy in 2011. The case is pending before the courts.

FACTS OF THE CASE

The victim had stayed over at the man’s home after trick-or-treating with his friend — the man’s son — on Halloween.

Shortly after the boys had gone to bed, the man entered his son’s room and molested the victim, who was sleeping in the upper bunk, then left and returned to perform oral sex on the boy. His son was sleeping in the lower bunk at the time.

During the trial in the High Court, the victim testified that he had pretended to be asleep during the sexual assault.

When it was over, he packed up his belongings and called his father, who was watching a rugby World Cup match at home. He told his father he was feeling unwell and asked to be picked up.

When the victim’s father arrived, he got in the car and told his father what had happened. The father then confronted the man and his wife, before asking victim to repeat his allegations.

During his appeal in the apex court, the offender argued that the victim’s evidence was not credible and he had a motive to make up the story — that is, to placate his father. The three judges who heard the appeal unanimously disagreed.

The judges also noted that the victim had had “a good time” during Halloween, collected the most number of candies among his friends, and had got along well with the man’s son, frequently going on playdates and sleepovers with him.