• Nooraman Mohd Noor had been jailed six times from 1997 to 2019 for molestation crimes
• In 2021, he groped four males aged 12 to 20 on buses and at MRT stations
• Nooraman’s lawyer said he was suffering from a schizophrenic relapse at the time
• He was jailed four years for his latest crimes 

SINGAPORE — A 53-year-old man with a long history of committing molestation crimes was on Friday (Nov 5) jailed four years for groping young males, including a 12-year-old boy, on public buses and train stations.

Nooraman Mohd Noor pleaded guilty to two charges of outrage of modesty. Two other similar charges were considered during sentencing.

His sentence was backdated to Feb 10 when he was first held on remand.

Nooraman’s lawyer Sofia Bakhash told TODAY that he suffers from schizophrenia and that his condition had a contributory link to his latest crimes.

A psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) said in a medical report that he had a high risk of reoffending, and an “extreme lack of insight into his condition and the need for psychiatric medication”. 

His interview with IMH and his past conduct in court also suggested that he was unwilling to take medication, the psychiatrist said.

He had been put behind bars six times since 1997 and reoffended soon after he was last released. 

In 2013, he was jailed two years and given four strokes of the cane for molesting a 19-year-old boy on an SBS Transit public bus.

And, in 2019, he was imprisoned for two years, with an extra three months in lieu of caning, for molesting a 31-year-old man on a train.

WHAT HAPPENED THIS TIME

The court heard that on Jan 21 this year, Nooraman targeted a 15-year-old secondary school student on board SBS Transit bus service 22.

Nooraman sat next to the boy in the last row, put a long-sleeved shirt on himself and leaned towards the teen.

All of a sudden, the boy felt a groping sensation on his private parts. 

When he looked down, he saw Nooraman’s hand on his groin area. Nooraman had positioned his hand such that the shirt covered it.

The boy stood up immediately and walked away while Nooraman continued staring at him until he alighted from the bus.

More than two weeks later, on Feb 8, Nooraman and a 20-year-old polytechnic student were boarding Tower Transit’s bus service 169 when Nooraman touched the student’s groin over his clothing.

The victim called the police, saying that Nooraman was walking towards a canteen at Republic Polytechnic wearing jeans and a cropped top.

The student added: “This subject wearing a female attire came and groped my private part, and just walked off... I saw him go and grope another guy's private part as well.” 

That same day, Nooaraman touched an 18-year-old teenager while alighting from a bus, and molested a 12-year-old boy at Ang Mo Kio MRT Station by reaching backwards on an escalator.

RECALCITRANT OFFENDER

In seeking the four-year jail term imposed, Deputy Public Prosecutor Victoria Ting noted that Nooraman appeared to be a recalcitrant offender. 

His modus operandi, she noted, had stayed relatively consistent and he had targeted more victims over a short time.

Nevertheless, she did not seek corrective training or preventive detention. Both are harsher forms of imprisonment, with offenders unlikely to be given early release for factors such as good behaviour.

In mitigation, Ms Sofia, Nooraman’s lawyer, said that his medical report showed he was having a schizophrenic relapse when he committed the crimes. 

District Judge May Mesenas asked if he was willing to take his medication in prison.

Ms Sofia said that he was “willing to try”, to which the judge replied that he needed to comply and not just try.

Nooraman cried in court as an interpreter read out the judge’s decision. 

He then asked if he could get a lighter sentence, but District Judge Mesenas said that she had already imposed it.

Those convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to two years or fined or caned, or given any combination of the three penalties. 

Offenders aged 50 or older are spared caning under the law.