Veteran coach cleared of all molestation charges
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Mr Loh Siang Piow was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal by the court.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE - Veteran track and field coach Loh Siang Piow, who was accused of molesting two teenage athletes, has been cleared of all the charges brought against him.
In March, the 78-year-old, better known in the fraternity as Loh Chan Pew, was acquitted of molesting an 18-year-old in 2013 sentence of 21 months’ jail.
On Tuesday, the prosecution applied to withdraw the remaining charges against him relating to a second accuser, who was 16 at the time of the alleged offences between 2011 and 2012.
As a result, Mr Loh was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal by the court on the three charges.
The two women had lodged a police report against him on July 30, 2016.
A statement on Tuesday from Mr Loh’s legal team – Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, Mr Paul Loy and Mr Calvin Ong – said he would like to thank everyone who believed and stood by him.
“The past seven or so years have been a traumatic experience for Mr Loh,” said the statement.
“The allegations against him not only severely affected his standing personally and professionally, but more sadly deprived him of the one thing that he loves most – to train and motivate our young athletes to achieve their best in national and international competitive settings.”
Mr Loh went on trial in 2018 on two charges relating to the 18-year-old, who accused him of rubbing her genitals on two occasions while massaging the back of her thighs.
The incidents allegedly took place at the old Tampines Stadium on Feb 24 and March 15 in 2013.
He was found guilty at the end of the trial and sentenced in July 2020.
In June 2021, Mr Loh applied to present fresh evidence from Ms Amelia Monteiro, a former athlete who was with him on July 31, 2016, when a police officer called him regarding the accusations.
The new evidence failed to affect the district judge’s verdict.
In March, in overturning the guilty verdict, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said there were “inherent weaknesses” in the testimony of the accuser, identified as Ms C, and that it was “plainly wrong” for the district judge to rely on her evidence to convict Mr Loh.
Justice Hoo noted that Ms C’s account of the first incident lacked specific details on the training session and that she was not entirely clear where she was touched.
Ms C said her father accompanied her to a training session after she expressed discomfort with Mr Loh’s massages. But this account was not supported by either parent.
The judge said Ms C exaggerated aspects of the events and embellished her account to present a more persuasive case against Mr Loh.
However, Justice Hoo said she did not think Ms C had any malicious intention to frame Mr Loh.
She noted that Ms C had read a news report about a coach being accused of molestation and, thinking that the offender could be Mr Loh, decided to lodge a police report. However, it transpired that the news report concerned a different coach.
The judge said she could not discount the possibility that there was a build-up of mistrust towards Mr Loh over the years. “Precipitated by the newspaper report, and coupled with her strong sentiments against sexual offenders, the complaint was eventually made in 2016,” said Justice Hoo.
