Ex-surgeon with stage 4 cancer who molested woman given judicial mercy

SINGAPORE: A doctor who inappropriately touched a 20-year-old woman as she was recovering from a procedure was given a one-week jail sentence on Tuesday (January 27).

He would have received a much heavier sentence, except that he is suffering from stage four prostate cancer, and may have less than a year to live. Therefore, judicial mercy was extended to him.

According to a report in CNA, the surgeon’s name is not on the Singapore Medical Council’s website any longer.

His name, as well as that of his victim and the private hospital where she used to work, has not been made public due to a gag order for the woman’s protection.

The molestation occurred on Dec 24, 2021, as the woman lay on an operating table. She had just undergone a colonoscopy and haemorrhoids treatment and was recovering.

The former surgeon, then 72 years old, approached the woman and touched her chest in the presence of two nurses. Shocked at his actions, the nurses told their supervisors about the incident at once.

He said during his trial for one charge of outrage of modesty that the woman had given some form of consent for a breast exam to be done.

During his conviction, however, District Judge Shawn Ho said that because the woman had been sedated during the procedure, she could not give consent to the breast exam.

The nurses testified for the prosecution, with one saying that she had assisted the former surgeon multiple times a year as he performed procedures on patients but had never seen him perform a breast exam.

The former surgeon’s sentencing

His lawyers asked for a fine in the thousands of dollars, or a high fine together with one day in jail. The prosecution, however, sought a jail sentence of four to six weeks.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jane Lim said that if the former surgeon had not been gravely ill, a 12- to 15-month jail sentence would have been sought. The prosecution agreed with the judge regarding judicial mercy, however. According to the CNA report, he only has between six and 12 months to live.

Judicial mercy is exercised in exceptional circumstances, such as serious sickness. For example, last year, billionaire Ong Beng Seng, the Malaysian tycoon known for bringing Formula One to Singapore, avoided jail time after he pleaded guilty in a graft case.

The judge in his case, Lee Lit Cheng, pointed to Ong’s advanced multiple myeloma and several other serious health issues, saying that serving time in jail would endanger his life. Ong was given a S$30,000 fine.

The former surgeon could have served two years in jail and been made to pay a fine due to the molestation conviction. As he is over 50 years old, he cannot be caned. /TISG

Read also: Jail sentences for school officials who covered up molestation of young children by preschool cook