Police officer fined for molesting female colleague while on duty

SINGAPORE — A 29-year-old police officer was fined S$9,000 on Wednesday (April 8) after he pleaded guilty to molesting a female colleague thrice while on duty in 2016 and 2017. 

On one occasion, the Staff Sergeant suddenly put his left hand on her right thigh as they spoke while on patrol duty in a police car. The victim, who held the lower rank of Sergeant 2, moved her leg away and covered her right thigh with a clipboard.

The accused, a married man with two children aged two and five, has been suspended from duty. He and his victim, now 27, cannot be named because of a gag order to protect the woman’s identity.

The second incident happened while the pair were on duty at the counter of a neighbourhood police centre. This time, he placed his hand lightly over hers before sliding it down to take an item that she wanted to hand over to him.

The third violation happened while they were performing anti-crime patrols on foot in a housing estate with two other police officers. She felt a push on her left buttock when she walked past the accused, who had stopped to wait for her to catch up.

The victim was shocked, but did not confront him. She quickly moved forward to catch up with the other two officers.

The accused originally indicated that he would like to contest the three molestation charges that he faced. But he changed his mind on Monday, when his victim was set to become the first witness to testify against him.

On Wednesday, the court heard that the accused was not in a romantic relationship with his victim.

She had kept the unwanted advances to herself until April 17, 2018, when she told a police deputy superintendent attached to the Home Team School of Criminal Investigation about being molested. She did so after attending his lecture.

When the 53-year-old deputy superintendent asked why she had not lodged a police report, the victim told him that she was confused and apprehensive about the consequences of submitting a report.

The deputy superintendent lodged an electronic police report on the case the next day.

ACTIONS DUE TO ‘MOMENT OF FOLLY’

Urging the court to impose a more lenient sentence, the lawyer for the accused, Mr T M Sinnadurai, said: “The accused admits that his actions were due to a moment of folly. This is a scar that will remain with him for the rest of his life.”

Mr Sinnadurai also stressed that his client’s actions were “fleeting”. He did not grab her thigh, buttocks or hands, he noted.

The lawyer wrote in his mitigation plea that people who knew the accused had only good things to say about him, and their testimonials showed that he was a “mild-mannered, responsible and disciplined person”.

He cited a testimonial from a former teammate of the accused, which stated that he was well-liked by colleagues. Another colleague wrote that he was always willing to lend a hand and “always kept a cool head and never stepped out of line”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gregory Gan, however, argued that this was a case of workplace sexual harassment, and therefore, the sentence imposed ought to reflect that such conduct cannot be condoned.

The prosecutor also said that the accused had shown a degree of persistence by molesting the victim on three occasions.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said the officer was suspended from service on Dec 26, 2018.

“Officers of the SPF are expected to uphold the law, and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity,” it added. 

“We deal severely with officers who break the law, including charging them in court.” 

SPF said it has started disciplinary proceedings against the officer after his conviction on Wednesday.

It added that measures were in place for officers to report such matters, including to their supervisors or management.