SINGAPORE - A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to six months' jail for molesting an elderly cleaner after she gave him money to buy food.
Chua Wee Meng pleaded guilty on Monday (April 19) to one count of outraging the 68-year-old victim's modesty.
Another similar charge was taken into consideration during sentencing by District Judge Wong Li Tein.
The victim, who was working as a part-time cleaner when Chua committed the offence against her, cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.
The court heard that on June 19 last year, the woman was waiting for the lift at the lobby of a Housing Board block in the Queenstown area.
Chua approached her and asked for $4 to buy food.
He molested her after she gave him half the amount.
Shocked, she refused Chua's subsequent request for money.
She then entered the lift and returned to her unit.
The woman later told her daughter about the incident, and a police report was made.
In sentencing Chua on Monday, District Judge Wong said the man had committed the offence to an elderly woman who "had demonstrated kindness to him".
The judge also said the amount of fear caused by Chua's act to the woman cannot be understated, noting that the victim was shaken by the offence.
Chua's sentence has been backdated to Feb 1 this year, when he was remanded.
For this offence, Chua could have been jailed for up to two years, or fined, or caned, or sentenced to any combination of such punishments.
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