Flight attendant fined for molesting student at Zouk

A flight attendant was fined S$10,000 yesterday for molesting a student at Zouk in January.

Henry Bernardo Cortez Cerrato, 27, a national of El Salvador in Central America who was working for Qatar Airways, pleaded guilty to touching the 24-year-old's private parts through her jeans at the Jiak Kim Street nightspot just after 4am on Jan 25.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tow Chew Chi said sometime after midnight, the victim and her friends entered Zouk and made their way to the bar counter. Her friends ordered alcoholic drinks but the victim did not consume any.

Cerrato arrived at around 3am. About an hour later, the victim was near the bar counter when she moved aside slightly, believing that Cerrato was going to walk past her.

However, upon nearing the victim, he molested her and walked away.

The victim grabbed his shirt collar and questioned him, but he remained silent and walked away.

The victim then told her friends what happened and they went round the nightclub looking for Cerrato and alerted the club's security officers when they found him.

He was detained at one of the toilets. Police came and arrested him.

Cerrato had touched the victim only fleetingly, said his lawyer, Mr Louis Joseph.

District Judge Eugene Teo said the fine needed to be large enough to show that this kind of shameful act should never be repeated.

The maximum penalty for molestation is two years' jail, a fine and caning.

This article was first published on JUNE 25, 2014.
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