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www.corpun.com   :  Archive   :  1998   :  SG Judicial Apr 1998

-- THE ARCHIVE --


SINGAPORE

Judicial CP - April 1998



masthead
The New Paper, Singapore, 6 April 1998




JAILED NINE MONTHS FOR HAVING SEX WITH GIRL, 14
He's SICK!

HE'S violent. And loud and crude.

And he isn't much of a looker, being pot-bellied and bow-legged.

Yet, he was fancied as a Romeo, able to lure women like bees to honey.

Once married, he had at least three live-in lovers -- and flings here and there -- after his divorce.

But Yeo Leong Hock (left), 41, wasn't satisfied.

In fact, he even committed a SICK act. He had sex with a 14-year-old girl.

The girl was a friend of his daughter, then just 15.

Yeo, then already a father of three, was jailed nine months for that offence.

That despicable act nine years ago came to light when an CID officer was investigating the death of Yeo's lover, Madam Ng Yook Pheng, 45.

Last week, Yeo was jailed six years and given six strokes of the cane for causing grievous hurt which resulted in Madam Ng's death.

Yeo had told the police a tall tale about Madam Ng being beaten to death by robbers.

But the investigating officer, CID inspector Lin Ming-yi, was suspicious and decided to probe further, reported Shin Min Daily News. (See report below.)

That was when he uncovered the shocking truth of Yeo's sex crime.

The offence took place in the fifth-storey Bedok flat where one of Yeo's lovers had jumped to her death after having sex with him.

The girl had gone to the flat to look for Yeo's daughter, Kim Gek, who was her classmate.

In her police report, the girl at first accused Yeo of raping her.

She said she didn't know what to do when Yeo forced himself on her.

She also told the police that Yeo threatened to harm her if she told anyone about the incident.

Yeo was arrested and charged with rape.

But the girl later changed her testimony and said that she had sex with Yeo willingly.

The charge against Yeo was amended to having sex with an underaged girl.

After the incident, Yeo's daughter went missing and ended up in a drug centre.

WHY HE WAS SUSPICIOUS

CID officer Lin Ming-yi was suspicious of Yeo's story.

The reason: Although Yeo claimed that Madam Ng was beaten by robbers just a few days before her death on March 6 last year, there were a lot of old bruises on her body.

Also, Madam Ng did not report the alleged robbery.

Yeo got his two sons, Choon Kwee, 23, and Seng Chye, 15, to lie for him.

But after lying for eight months, Choon Kwee told police the truth

after being shown photographs of how badly Madam Ng was beaten.

Yeo had beaten Madam Ng after an argument over her medical bill of $50. It was to treat her injuries from other beatings he had inflicted on her.



masthead
Straits Times, Singapore, 21 April 1998

Rape bid on exec in 5-star hotel

By Tan Oooi Boon

A MALAYSIAN timber manager was sentenced to nine years' jail and 16 strokes of the cane for a brutal attempt to rape a woman guest of a five-star hotel here.

At about midnight on Sept 17 last year, Ho Wee Fah, 36, barged into the hotel room of the victim, a foreigner here on business, who was staying at the Sheraton Towers Hotel. He threatened to kill her if she did not give in, then he undressed her by force.

But she screamed for help and her cries were heard by some hotel guests.

The High Court heard yesterday that the woman's ordeal, lasting about 20 minutes, would have continued if other hotel guests had not heard her and called for help.

Ho tried to flee, but was caught by the hotel's security staff, after a chase.

He had wanted to claim trial but changed his mind yesterday and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted rape. In meting out a sentence which was close to the maximum of 10 years and 24 strokes, Judicial Commissioner Amarjeet Singh said that Ho's "disgusting conduct" had caused severe trauma to the victim, a foreigner here on business.

He added: "Sometimes an attempted rape can be as bad as the completed act. Had it not been for the timely intervention of the hotel staff, you would have no doubt...committed the wicked act on the victim."

JC Amarjeet Singh warned that the court would mete out severe penalties to discourage such crimes, as they would tarnish Singapore's image as a regional commercial and tourism centre.

The woman victim was a senior executive of her company.

In an unusual move, Deputy Public Prosecutor Francis Tseng asked the court to withhold not only her name, but also her nationality and occupation, to protect her identity.

He revealed that earlier this year, she had received a letter mailed from Johor Baru to her home, threatening to harm her and her family if she testified against Ho. The alleged threat is being investigated by her own country's police.

On the attack at the hotel, the DPP said that Ho, also a guest at Sheraton Towers, had taken the lift together with the victim, who did not know him.

Just as she was about to enter her room, he asked her out for a drink. When she declined, he pushed his way into her room.

She screamed and put up a fierce struggle, until she had fallen to the ground several times. Ho stopped only when hotel staff knocked on the door.

He warned the woman not to open the door and went into the toilet to get dressed. But she put on her clothes quickly and opened the door let the hotel staff in.

Married with three daughters, Ho broke down and cried yesterday after his sentence was passed.


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