He repays teen's help with kisses, body touching
PUBLISHED ONOctober 30, 2014 10:00 PMByShaffiq Alkhatib
She was helping him cross an overhead bridge, but he abused the teenager's kindness and molested her.
Yong Kiam Khim, 59, who is jobless and has difficulty walking, was jailed for three months yesterday after pleading guilty to outraging the 16-year-old girl's modesty.
A second molestation charge, involving a 20-year-old woman, was taken into consideration during sentencing.
According to court papers, Yong outraged the woman's modesty at around 11.40pm on Sept 2 last year, by forcefully putting his arm over her shoulder and holding her hands on board SBS bus service 105 while travelling along Toa Payoh Central.
He was out on bail for this case when he struck again on April 10.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Eunice Lau said the teenager, who cannot be named to protect her identity, was walking down the overhead bridge along Dunearn Road at around 4.45pm that day when Yong approached her.
He told her: "Help me." She agreed to help him cross the bridge.
She offered him her arm and he held on to her. He also placed his hands on her shoulder and waist for support.
HUGGED
DPP Lau said that when they reached the other side, he suddenly hugged the teenager, kissed her cheek and thanked her for helping him.
She thought that he was simply expressing his gratitude and helped him down the stairs.
But Yong kissed her cheek again and this time, she asked him to stop. However, thinking that he would stop trying to kiss her if she allowed him to do so one more time, she relented.
After kissing her left cheek, he tried to kiss her mouth by turning her face towards his. She pushed him away.
Despite this, the girl still continued to help Yong walk down the stairs.
Further taking advantage of her kindness, Yong then touched her right breast and pressed his whole body against hers after holding her waist tightly with his hands.
RAN AWAY
At that point, the teenager decided she had had enough. She broke free and ran away.
She told her 22-year-old boyfriend, who was nearby, and he alerted the police.
He also rushed to the overhead bridge but Yong managed to slip away on a bus before the police arrived.
The couple managed to note down the bus registration number and Yong was arrested.
In his mitigation, Yong's lawyer, Mr S.S. Dhillon, said Yong suffers from a "long-standing lower limb weakness" and walks with an unsteady gait. The lawyer urged District Judge Victor Yeo to mete out the minimum custodial sentence.
For molesting the teenager, Yong could have been jailed up to two years and fined.
He would not have been caned as he is above 50 years old.
This article was first published on October 29, 2014.
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