Ex-postman gets jail and caning for molesting 10-year-old boy
A Chinese national working in Singapore as a postman was delivering letters at a Yishun HDB block when he spotted a young boy. After striking up a conversation with the boy, he molested him twice.
On Monday (5 March), Wu Chao, 32, was sentenced to 18 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to one charge of outrage of modesty. A second similar charge was taken into consideration during sentencing.
The court heard that on 18 September last year, Wu, who was then working as a Singpost postman, was on his rounds when he saw the 10-year-old boy playing with a friend at an HDB void deck at around 2.30pm.
Wu waited until the boy was alone and struck up a conversation with him. He then grabbed the boy’s private parts over his school shorts. To stop the boy from running away, he held onto the boy’s hand and made the boy sit on his lap by holding him in place. He then touched the boy’s private parts again and commented that they were small.
The boy eventually managed to run away and call the police.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Adrianni Marhain sought a jail term of 21 months and three strokes of the cane, saying that Wu’s exploitation of the victim was “persistent and sustained”. There was an element of restraint because he prevented the boy from escaping by holding onto him and making him sit on his lap. There was also a humiliation of the victim based on what Wu said about the boy’s genitals, said DPP Adrianni.
DPP Adrianni also pointed out that the offences were also committed in a void deck, a place where the victim was supposed to feel safe playing with his friend.
Wu’s lawyer Melvin Loh, who was assigned by the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas), asked for leniency, saying that Wu wished to conclude the matter quickly and return to his family where he was the sole breadwinner.
District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim sentenced Wu to 18 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane, backdating his sentence to 20 September 2017 when he was first remanded.
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