Man jailed for molesting woman on chest twice within 10 minutes
A man who molested a woman on her chest twice within 10 minutes in Yishun was jailed nine months on Tuesday (22 August).
Edmund Lua Kian Yong, 30, committed the offences around Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) where the 42-year-old victim was working. He pleaded guilty to two counts of molesting the woman, with two similar counts taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that the woman, who cannot be named due to a gag order, was on her way to work at around 1.15pm when the incident occurred. While walking outside the neighbouring Yishun Community Hospital, the woman noticed Lua, who was dressed in a grey-and-blue T-shirt and blue shorts, walking towards her in the opposite direction.
As the two crossed paths, Lua extended his arm and pushed the woman on her chest. The woman pushed Lua’s arm away with her hand and Lua walked away.
Some 10 minutes later, the woman was walking towards the lifts located on the ground floor of KTPH when she encountered Lua again. She was entering a lift when Lua, who was already in the lift, started walking out of it. As Lua passed the woman, he again extended his arm and pushed the woman on her chest. The woman described this push as “harder than the first push” in court documents.
The woman shouted at Lua and called him “crazy” but Lua did not respond and walked away. The woman reported the incident to the hospital’s security and later lodged a police report.
Lua’s lawyer Ariel Lim said in mitigation that Lua, who is unemployed, was close to his mother and was devastated by her death in 2014. His mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer two years before her death. The lawyer said her client did not commit the offences for sexual pleasure.
District Judge Eddy Tham told Lua that his manner of coping with things was “very destructive and harmful”. Noting that Lua had committed seven similar offences in the past, he told Lua it was time he realised this was not the way to cope with the loss of his mother.
Lua could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined and/or caned.
