A 49-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday, June 5 in a district court to two counts of outrage of outrage of modesty. In late 2016 the Indonesian maid of the accused was sexually abused four times and she reported the incident to the Ministry of Manpower, located in Havelock Road.
The father of two, Francis Lim Boon Liang hired the 24-year-old Indonesian national on November 24, 2016, after she came to Singapore in September. Court heard that the exploitation started soon after she started working for the accused.
During the hearing, the Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Lai said that the unnamed victim was not involved in any romantic relationship with the Francis and it was totally professional. Lai also mentioned that the accused and other family members did not have any complaint against the maid or about her work.
District Judge Marvin Bay heard that one day, the victim was alone with Francis when the accused asked a kiss from her. At that moment, his son was sitting in the living room and his daughter was in her bedroom. But, after refusing the proposal, the accused molested her at his own house.
DPP Lai told the court that even though after the first incident the victim felt angry and embarrassed, did not file a police complaint because she was still concerned about the family's reputation and had respect for her employer. But, in November Francis again sexually abused her for two times.
Reports said, on December 3, he molested the victim again for the fourth time when she was at a flat, which belongs to the mother of Francis. After this incident, when the Francis' mother fell asleep the maid ran away at around 10 pm and headed towards the Ministry of Manpower. But, since it was too late and the office was closed, she somehow managed to spend the night at a nearby bus stop. However, the next morning she went to the ministry and informed officials about the molestation.
In the District Court Francis was represented by lawyer Diana Ngiam. The accused is currently out on $5,000 bail. But, the court would consider two more molestation charges against Francis during sentencing, which is scheduled to take place on July 13.
As per the Section 354 Penal Code, "Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any person, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage the modesty of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with caning, or with any combination of such punishments."
