A security guard at the new Wandervale executive condominium (EC) in Choa Chu Kang Avenue 3 allegedly climbed through the window of a ground-floor apartment, held down a maid and molested her.

Jeffry Ali is also accused of being armed with a pair of scissors at the time, which caused the maid to fear for her life. Yesterday, the 32-year-old Singaporean was charged in court with one count of outraging the 32-year-old woman's modesty.

The incident on Sunday at 5.15am resulted in scores of officers from Jurong Police Division and the Special Operations Command (SOC) being activated to search the area after Jeffry ran from the apartment.

He was later found in a carpark in the development.

Jeffry is accused of forcibly kissing the woman's face and removing her clothes. According to media reports, the woman was saved after an elderly resident of the unit heard a disturbance in the bedroom, which the maid shared with the resident's grandchildren.

She found a male intruder lying on top of her maid who was desperately crying for help.

The elderly woman, who declined to be named, said the startled intruder escaped through the front door as she tried to get assistance from her neighbours.

Police were alerted at around 5.40am and activated a number of officers. A Wandervale resident estimated that up to 50 police officers and 17 vehicles, including four from the SOC, were at the EC on Sunday.

The Straits Times understands that it was necessary to activate the officers to adequately cover the property which has 534 units. Jeffry is now remanded at Jurong Police Division and will be back in court on Nov 12.

If convicted of molestation, he can be jailed for between two and 10 years and caned.