'Healer' jailed for sexual assault during 'treatments'

Father of three gets 7 years' jail for assaulting woman during sessions to 'treat' infertility

Koh Nai Hock, 64, better known as Doc Bob Koh, is out on $60,000 bail, pending his appeal.
Koh Nai Hock, 64, better known as Doc Bob Koh, is out on $60,000 bail, pending his appeal. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

A self-professed alternative healer sexually assaulted a woman under the guise of providing legitimate treatment for her infertility.

Koh Nai Hock, better known as Doc Bob Koh, was convicted last month of 14 charges of sexual penetration of the businesswoman, then 40, on seven occasions between Nov 1 and Dec 25 in 2010.

Yesterday, the 64-year-old father of three was sentenced to seven years' jail. He is out on $60,000 bail, pending his appeal.

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim had disagreed with his defence that what he had done were legitimate methods to treat infertility. She found that he knew that they were not legitimate methods and were clearly sexual in nature.

The woman, now 45, first sought treatment from a gynaecologist for infertility in August 2010, and was due to go for surgery to remove an endometriotic cyst in February 2011.

In late 2010, she came to know Koh, who said he could treat her infertility and could shrink her cyst using non-surgical methods.

The victim and her husband paid him $20,580 for a three-month treatment package. She attended eight sessions with Koh: six at Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel in East Coast Road, one each at her home and Ibis Hotel in Bencoolen Street.

During the sessions at the East Coast Road hotel on Nov 1 and 2, Koh asked her husband to leave the hotel room. Koh was alone with her when he committed the offences.

These were repeated each time, except the last session, when the victim, who went to Ibis Hotel alone, felt nauseous and shocked after the "treatment''. Koh had kissed her on her cheek and told her she was "so cute". He gave her a hug, ostensibly to straighten her spine, performed "lymphatic drainage" on her breasts and pressed her rib cage so hard that she screamed in pain.

She declined his offer to use his mouth to suck out "negative energy" from her cleavage.

She reported the case to the police in February 2011. In May the same year, she went to a gynaecologist and later conceived successfully.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Lin Yinbing and Michael Quilindo sought a jail term of 10 years to deter Koh and would-be offenders. They argued that he had practised deception and fear-mongering on the victim to allow him to sexually violate her.

Koh still faces a Health Ministry summons for advertising his treatment services online between May and July 2008. The case is fixed for a pre-trial conference on Dec 11.

The maximum penalty for sexual penetration is 20 years' jail, and a fine or caning.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 13, 2015, with the headline 'Healer' jailed for sexual assault during 'treatments'. Subscribe