SINGAPORE: A 56-year-old cleaner was mopping the floor in a hospital ward when he saw a female patient lying in bed with a partially unbuttoned pyjama top.
He reached under her clothes and touched her breast but the patient, a 42-year-old woman, could not ask for help as she was completely paralysed and could not speak or move.
The offender was caught after a nurse tending to another patient saw what he was doing.
The Singaporean man pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Mar 23) to using criminal force on the woman to outrage her modesty. He will return to court for sentencing next month.
The victim’s identity and the hospital are protected by a gag order. The offender’s name is not being reported as it could lead to the identification of the hospital.
The court heard that the cleaner had been working at the hospital since 2020.
At about 4.30pm on Apr 27 last year, he was mopping some water on the floor when he saw the victim lying in bed with the first two buttons of her pyjama top undone.
He put his hand under the victim’s top and touched her breast for 15 seconds.
At this time, a nurse was helping another patient change diapers behind cubicle curtains. When she was done and drew the curtains back, she saw the man touching the victim.
Shocked, the nurse shouted: “What are you doing!” The man removed his hand without saying anything, then left the ward to continue his work.
The nurse approached the victim and asked if she was okay. The victim reacted by looking at her.
The nurse then asked the victim if the man had touched her breast, and the victim blinked three times. She understood this to mean “yes” as it was their method of communication.
The nurse told her supervisor what she had seen and a police report was made.
The cleaner admitted in a police statement to touching the victim’s breast. He claimed that he molested her because he had forgotten to take his medication and “heard voices” telling him to touch her.
A psychiatric evaluation by an Institute of Mental Health doctor found that the man suffered from schizophrenia, but that his condition had not relapsed at the time of the offence.
The doctor also found that he was not of unsound mind when he molested the patient.
The victim was “completely unable to protect herself” due to her “complete paralysis”, according to court documents.
“The accused knew that the victim was paralysed, that she was unable to speak and move, and that she was a vulnerable person,” court documents stated.
The offender is liable to receive an enhanced penalty of up to four years’ jail for committing the offence against a vulnerable person, as well as a fine. He cannot be caned as he is above the age of 50.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Chong asked for between 24 and 28 months’ jail, with an additional two months in lieu of any caning.
He highlighted that the victim was “defenceless” and unable to move the offender’s hand away or to ask for help.
“But for the (nurse) catching him in the act, the accused might well have gotten away scot-free and no one would have known because of the victim’s inability to express herself,” said Mr Ng.
While it was not possible to obtain a victim impact statement, Mr Ng argued that the victim must have experienced distress as she was molested in the hospital where she lived and had a right to feel safe and secure.
There was also an abuse of trust by the cleaner as he was only able to gain access to the victim due to his employment in the hospital, said Mr Ng.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Choo Si Sen said his client admitted his actions “right at the beginning”, and had only touched the patient’s breast for “a very short time”.
Mr Choo asked the court to assess his client’s suitability for a mandatory treatment order – which directs an offender suffering from certain treatable psychiatric conditions to undergo psychiatric treatment – or probation.
However, District Judge Kessler Soh questioned whether the offender could be given a community-based sentence in this case. He adjourned sentencing to give the defence more time to consider the sentencing submissions.