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He was walking out of the toilet at a polyclinic when he felt someone grab his backside.
The 14-year-old boy turned around immediately to look at the culprit. The man, his face covered with age spots, was clad in office wear and looked old enough to be his father.
He smiled at the boy and entered the toilet.
But the quick-witted teen didn't let the man get away with what he did. He hid and used his mobile phone to snap a photograph of the man's back when he came out of the toilet.
The police were called and when they arrived, the teen showed them the photo and gave a description of the man.
The police arrested the man at the polyclinic. A police spokesman confirmed that a 56-year-old man is out on police bail after his arrest for outrage of modesty. Investigations are ongoing.
The incident happened at 11.15am in Woodlands on Dec 22.
The boy's mother, a 41-year-old housewife, told TheNew Paper that her son had crossed paths with the man at the entrance of the polyclinic toilet.
She said: "When he turned around, he saw the man smiling at him."
After the man grabbed him and went into the toilet, the boy found a spot in a corner outside the toilet and hid there so that he could take a photo of the man as he walked out.
Added his mother: "But the guy was very fast. He walked out and went into the lift that took him up to the second floor, so my son managed to get a photo only of his back."
She said her son needed to use the toilet after they had lunch at a coffee shop.
"But he said the toilet at the coffee shop was too dirty, so he went to use the toilet in the polyclinic across the road instead," she said.
Although he took longer than expected, she did not think much of it. "But when he came back, he whispered to me because there were others around," she said.
Seated at the same table were the teen's teacher and four other mothers whose children are studying in his secondary school.
Curious, his teacher asked him what was going on. He recounted the incident.
Said the boy's mother: "The teacher was very garang (Malay for fierce). She grabbed another parent and said, 'Let's go inside the polyclinic to look for him.'"
So the group decided to go together to search for the man as they thought he could be a patient and might still be there. One of them also called the police.
The group didn't find the man, but when the police arrived, they found him. "The police called me to take my son up to the second floor to identify the perpetrator," the mother said.
"He was inside one of the rooms, and when he came out, he was looking at a slip of paper, so he didn't notice us even though a lot of people were staring at us because there were so many policemen around."
Identified the culprit
Her son confirmed that the man was the culprit.
His mother said she was surprised he had the presence of mind to lie in wait for the man and snap a photo of him.
She said that her son may have come up with the idea from citizen journalism website Stomp, which she had previously shown him and her younger son.
And he may also have learnt to do so from watching her snap photos of the odd antics of people they came across, she added.
She is glad her son did it as it helped to nab the pervert.
"It's also a lucky thing I didn't confiscate his mobile phone that day because I sometimes do that when he misbehaves," she said.
But although the molester has been caught, her son is no longer his usual self.
"He couldn't sleep that night and had no appetite. I had to force him to eat," she said.
He has also refused to speak about the incident, not even to the school counsellor she took him to see lastweek.
"He feels embarrassed and ashamed. He felt very disgusted and asked why the guy did this to him," she said.
He also feels uneasy about going out alone now and uses public toilets only when he is accompanied.
"The guy was very fast. He walked out and went into the lift that took him up to the second floor, so my son managed to get a photo only of his back." - The mother of the teen who was molested by the man
The 14-year-old boy turned around immediately to look at the culprit. The man, his face covered with age spots, was clad in office wear and looked old enough to be his father.
He smiled at the boy and entered the toilet.
But the quick-witted teen didn't let the man get away with what he did. He hid and used his mobile phone to snap a photograph of the man's back when he came out of the toilet.
The police were called and when they arrived, the teen showed them the photo and gave a description of the man.
The police arrested the man at the polyclinic. A police spokesman confirmed that a 56-year-old man is out on police bail after his arrest for outrage of modesty. Investigations are ongoing.
The incident happened at 11.15am in Woodlands on Dec 22.
The boy's mother, a 41-year-old housewife, told TheNew Paper that her son had crossed paths with the man at the entrance of the polyclinic toilet.
She said: "When he turned around, he saw the man smiling at him."
After the man grabbed him and went into the toilet, the boy found a spot in a corner outside the toilet and hid there so that he could take a photo of the man as he walked out.
Added his mother: "But the guy was very fast. He walked out and went into the lift that took him up to the second floor, so my son managed to get a photo only of his back."
She said her son needed to use the toilet after they had lunch at a coffee shop.
"But he said the toilet at the coffee shop was too dirty, so he went to use the toilet in the polyclinic across the road instead," she said.
Although he took longer than expected, she did not think much of it. "But when he came back, he whispered to me because there were others around," she said.
Seated at the same table were the teen's teacher and four other mothers whose children are studying in his secondary school.
Curious, his teacher asked him what was going on. He recounted the incident.
Said the boy's mother: "The teacher was very garang (Malay for fierce). She grabbed another parent and said, 'Let's go inside the polyclinic to look for him.'"
So the group decided to go together to search for the man as they thought he could be a patient and might still be there. One of them also called the police.
The group didn't find the man, but when the police arrived, they found him. "The police called me to take my son up to the second floor to identify the perpetrator," the mother said.
"He was inside one of the rooms, and when he came out, he was looking at a slip of paper, so he didn't notice us even though a lot of people were staring at us because there were so many policemen around."
Identified the culprit
Her son confirmed that the man was the culprit.
His mother said she was surprised he had the presence of mind to lie in wait for the man and snap a photo of him.
She said that her son may have come up with the idea from citizen journalism website Stomp, which she had previously shown him and her younger son.
And he may also have learnt to do so from watching her snap photos of the odd antics of people they came across, she added.
She is glad her son did it as it helped to nab the pervert.
"It's also a lucky thing I didn't confiscate his mobile phone that day because I sometimes do that when he misbehaves," she said.
But although the molester has been caught, her son is no longer his usual self.
"He couldn't sleep that night and had no appetite. I had to force him to eat," she said.
He has also refused to speak about the incident, not even to the school counsellor she took him to see lastweek.
"He feels embarrassed and ashamed. He felt very disgusted and asked why the guy did this to him," she said.
He also feels uneasy about going out alone now and uses public toilets only when he is accompanied.
"The guy was very fast. He walked out and went into the lift that took him up to the second floor, so my son managed to get a photo only of his back." - The mother of the teen who was molested by the man
