• The 66-year-old man is contesting six charges of molesting two female colleagues in 2016
• He testified that one of them hugged him first, after she was promoted and after performing well in a course she conducted
• However, the prosecution charged that he had wanted to test his limits with her

SINGAPORE — Prosecutors accused a senior public servant in an ongoing molestation trial on Wednesday (Sept 2) of becoming bolder in his advances towards a female colleague, progressing from hugging her tightly to squeezing her buttocks and pressing his groin against her body.

But the accused man continued insisting that she had hugged him first lightly, and only on two occasions.

Nevertheless, when grilled by the prosecution, he could not explain why he had breached protocol by apparently returning her hugs.

The public servant, now aged 66, worked at a statutory board. He is contesting six charges of molesting two female colleagues over about nine months in 2016.

Their workplace and all parties involved in the case cannot be named due to a court order to protect the identities of his alleged victims, who were 43 and 55 years old at the time.

Five of the six charges relate to the younger woman, who was his direct subordinate. He is accused of molesting both of them at their workplace.

He also faces three other charges of molesting the older woman when they were overseas for work. They will be dealt with later.

He began working for the statutory board in 2004 and has been suspended since April 2018.

A ‘PURELY PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP'

On Wednesday, he was cross-examined by the prosecution only in relation to the younger woman.

He is accused of hugging her “so tightly such that her breasts were pressing against (his) body” on three occasions.

Later, he is also said to have squeezed her buttocks and pressed his private parts against her upper torso.

He testified in court that they had a “purely professional relationship”, though she would touch his hand and ask if he needed help when he seemed stressed.

He had encouraged her to transfer to his department and became her direct supervisor when she joined in 2015. He was one of the most senior members in the organisation then.

In relation to the charges against him, he testified that the younger woman had initiated “very quick” and “very light” hugs on two occasions.

The first time in March 2016, he had told her that she was about to be promoted.

As she was about to leave for lunch with her husband, he offered his hand to congratulate her. That was when she “opened her arms and invited a hug to thank me”, he said.

On the second occasion in August that year, she had scored a perfect rating in a course she produced. He told her that this was the first time it had happened, so she allegedly hugged him again.

TRYING TO TEST HER LIMITS?

However, the victim — who testified in-camera when the trial began in February — said that he hugged her over her arms and placed his hands on her back along her bra line, before molesting her.

When Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Goh Yi Ling put the woman’s version of events to him and asked if he had hugged her at least five to six times, he vehemently disagreed.

DPP Goh asserted that the accused began going to the office earlier at 7am, in order to be alone with the woman there. He disagreed with this, too.

He also claimed that he was at a meeting on June 15, 2016 — the same day she had accused him of molesting her by pressing his private parts against her.

The prosecutor charged: “Instead of saying your usual 'Good morning', you did not say anything and just went silently to her desk. At the time, she was staring at her computer, engrossed in some important data. According to her, you came beside her desk and you (molested her).”

The man denied this and further denied that after she turned to stare at him in shock, he walked out of the room.

“Isn’t it the case that after that instance of hugging in March 2016, you were trying to test your limits with her by pressing (your groin against her)? You were trying to see if she was able to take your advances?” DPP Goh asked.

He disagreed.

The prosecutor also asked him if he had approached her in June or July that year to tell her that he had renewed his contract, then hugged her again. The alleged victim claimed that she pushed him away this time.

“She had no reason to initiate a hug with you because she was not even happy that you were being re-employed,” DPP Goh added.

“I have a problem with the question. This thing didn’t happen. I disagree,” he replied.

When DPP Goh asked why he had allegedly returned the hugs despite knowing the boundaries, he replied: “It’s just that, in that spontaneous moment, though I’m in an awkward position there, to decline a hug would be even more awkward and impolite.”

“Isn’t it more important to follow protocol than to have a moment of impoliteness?” the prosecutor asked.

“I couldn’t explain why,” he responded.

He also denied complimenting her on her blouse and her hairstyle. The prosecutor said that after he did this, she decided not to wear the blouse or style her hair that way any longer.

SCOLDED HER AFTER TWO MISTAKES

The accused also gave evidence that the woman had made two critical mistakes, causing him to reprimand her during a work review in 2017.

While he told the court that these were fundamental errors that endangered the organisation, DPP Goh argued that he had acted disproportionately and was “very condescending” towards her.

“I put it to you this is not the way you should have been conducting a work review. You were treating her this way because your attitude towards her changed for reasons not based on her work performance,” the prosecutor said.

As the alleged victim was given another promotion after his suspension, his remarks were “clearly not in line with her talents and abilities”, DPP Goh added.

He disagreed.

The trial continues on Thursday.

Those convicted of molestation can be jailed up to two years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three. However, offenders above 50 years old cannot be caned by law.