A policeman was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment on Monday (15 May) after pleading guilty to three counts of molestation and one count of insulting a woman’s modesty from 2015 to 2019.
He had molested two of his female subordinates while they were on duty, as well as assaulted one of them in front of their coworkers, according to The Straits Times.
Seven other charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing by the court.
Information and details about the police officer, the two victims, their workplace and their ranks cannot be disclosed because of a court order.
What happened?
The policeman began targeting his first victim back in August or September 2017 during a patrol with her while driving a police operational vehicle while she was seated in the front seat with a mobile data terminal (MDT) on her lap, which is used by officers to relay live information of ongoing operations, as well as other tasks.
When his vehicle was stopped at traffic lights on two occasions, he picked up the MDT from her lap and touched her inner thighs over her uniform, near her private area.
He didn’t say anything to her when he picked up the MDT and simply looked at the device, and on the second time he did this, the policewoman felt uncomfortable and moved the MDT away from her lap, setting it down somewhere else instead.
Second victim
The policeman targeted his second victim when answering a call for police assistance on 25 October 2015 from between 8.40pm to 9.50pm.
The victim was bending over an open door of their vehicle when he made a lewd remark about her and made her feel deeply uncomfortable and insulting towards her modesty.
He then molested her during a team bonding event in November 2015.
On 5 May 2019, he was with the victim at a neighbourhood police centre at about 7.30pm waiting to draw their weapons when he grabbed her thigh with both of his hands, which the other officers who were nearby at the time had seen.
The woman quickly got up and moved away from him when he let go.
An investigation against him was then kickstarted after the incident, and the victim said that she didn’t feel safe around him at work.