A 76-year-old man with a neurodegenerative disease that impacted his impulse control was sentenced to 15 months’ jail on March 18 for a string of molestation offences committed between 2022 and 2024.

Lim See Poi, a former junior college teacher, had pleaded guilty to five molestation charges on March 11. 

Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh said that while he accepted Lim’s frontotemporal dementia had resulted in his loss of impulse control, Lim’s behaviour had caused harm to his victims, many of whom were very young students.

The disease causes irreversible damage to the front and sides of the brain, which could lead to changes in behaviour and personality.

The judge added that reports from the Institute of Mental Health in 2023 and 2024 reaffirmed that Lim had the disease, which could have contributory links to his offences.

“I hope that after his sentence, his family will be able to step up supervision of him, and restrict his movements outside home to stop his reoffending,” said the judge, who also arranged for Lim to see a court counsellor.

The court had previously heard that Lim had received a 12-month conditional warning in April 2019 for an outrage of modesty offence.

Issued by the authorities, such a warning comes with conditions that an individual has to comply with for a specified period. Court documents did not disclose the conditions imposed on Lim.

However, Lim breached the conditional warning and was charged in October 2020 with three offences: two for outrage of modesty and one for insulting a woman’s modesty.

He was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the three charges on August 2021, and placed on a second 12-month conditional warning.

Judge Soh noted that Lim’s medical condition was assessed to have substantial contributory links to his offences at the time.

But Lim continued to reoffend after his second 12-month warning period ended.

On Oct 12, 2022, Lim approached a 41-year-old woman near Aljunied MRT station and asked her for sex. He grabbed her chest after she rejected him.

On June 27, 2023, he approached a 13-year-old student in Hougang and told her she could be his wife or girlfriend, before molesting her.

On Sept 20, 2023, he approached four girls, aged between 12 and 13 years old, and said they were his sex toys, before molesting one of them.

He also said they could be his “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday wives” as he needed to rest on Friday before going to Malaysia on weekends.

On Oct 23, 2024, he approached another 12-year-old girl in Hougang and asked her to be his wife, before molesting her.

A week later, he went up to a 17-year-old girl in Serangoon and molested her.

Police arrested Lim on Oct 31, 2024, and he has been in remand since.

If found guilty of outrage of modesty, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined or caned, or any combination of the three.

For molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined or caned, or receive any combination of such punishments.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.