SINGAPORE – Four men were charged in court on Thursday over their suspected involvement in outrage of modesty cases involving children.
The victims were 14 years and below when they were allegedly molested. The men cannot be named to protect the victims’ identities.
One of the victims, a girl who was aged between 10 and 12 at the time, was molested on multiple occasions between 2018 and 2020 by a 25-year-old man, the police said on Wednesday.
A 50-year-old man is also suspected of molesting a girl, 13, at a staircase landing of a Housing Board flat in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 in 2019. Charge sheets obtained by The Straits Times said that he had held on to her and kissed her on the lips.
The accused individuals in the two other cases involving child victims are a man, 27, who allegedly molested a 14-year-old boy at a restaurant in Paya Lebar in August 2020, and a man, 24, who allegedly molested an 11-year-old girl in a lift lobby in Bishan Street 22 in July 2022.
The 24-year-old is also accused of exposing his genitals while standing behind the girl in the lift.
Separately, another four cases of outrage of modesty allegedly occurred in nightlife establishments.
Three of these took place at Singapore’s largest nightclub, Marquee, which is located in Marina Bay Sands, according to court documents. The offences occurred between September and December 2022.
The men, aged between 21 and 45, are said to have touched the victims, all women aged between 22 and 27, inappropriately while in the nightclub.
A man, 33, is also accused of molesting a woman, 34, at a pub in Neil Road on Nov 13, 2022.
Last July, a man, 33, had also allegedly molested a woman, 27, at a coffee shop in Jurong East.
Another man, also aged 33, committed a similar offence against a woman, 31, while both of them were onboard a bus travelling along Alexandra Road.
The police said: “Outrage of modesty cases remain a key concern... The police have zero tolerance towards sexual offenders who threaten the personal safety of those in the community, and offenders will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law.”
In the first half of 2022, cases of outrage of modesty increased by 4.6 per cent to 773, up from 739 cases from January to June 2021.
Since March 2022, the maximum jail term for outrage of modesty has been increased from two to three years, as part of tougher measures to deter offenders.
The police said they will continue to work closely with various stakeholders, such as public entertainment outlets, public transport operators and the community, to prevent and deter such cases.
Members of the public are urged to be vigilant and to report incidents of outrage of modesty immediately to the police.
