Sep 15, 2008
Doctor settles molest case
He paid woman patient $51,000.
By Khushwant Singh
A DOCTOR, charged with molesting a woman patient, was allowed by a district court on Monday to compound the matter.
Dr Yong Voon Pin, 48, was then granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal.
His lawyer Senior Counsel Michael Khoo told the court that Dr Yong had given the 33-year-old woman a cheque for $51,000 to settle the matter.
Dr Yong also read out an apology expressing his regret that she had felt he had molested her.
According to the charge, Dr Yong was alleged to have touched the women?s breasts, her abdomen and right thigh on Nov 12, 2006, at the Healthline Woman's Clinic.
The court was not told why the woman had gone to the clinic. The woman, a long-time patient who cannot be named as this is a molest case, told the court that she wanted to put the incident behind her.
'I know it will not go away because of the fear I now have of doctors,' she said.
Lawyers told The Straits Times that to compound an offence, also known as a composition, is to settle the matter without a conviction.
The victim must agree to it. But the prosecution can object if it believes that it is not in the public interest.
In 2004, a court threw out a bid by Premier Taxi chairman Timothy Chua, who was accused of assaulting another motorist, to get the case compounded for $7,500.
The prosecution had objected as road rage cases were on the increase.
Mr Chua was convicted and fined the maximum $1,000. He could also have been jailed for up to a year.
Courts also do not allow the composition of maid abuse cases.
Offences that could be compounded also include causing mischief or hurt, trespassing,and threatening or defaming some one.
If convicted, Dr Yong could have been jailed for up to three years and caned or fined.
Doctor settles molest case
He paid woman patient $51,000.
By Khushwant Singh
A DOCTOR, charged with molesting a woman patient, was allowed by a district court on Monday to compound the matter.
Dr Yong Voon Pin, 48, was then granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal.
His lawyer Senior Counsel Michael Khoo told the court that Dr Yong had given the 33-year-old woman a cheque for $51,000 to settle the matter.
Dr Yong also read out an apology expressing his regret that she had felt he had molested her.
According to the charge, Dr Yong was alleged to have touched the women?s breasts, her abdomen and right thigh on Nov 12, 2006, at the Healthline Woman's Clinic.
The court was not told why the woman had gone to the clinic. The woman, a long-time patient who cannot be named as this is a molest case, told the court that she wanted to put the incident behind her.
'I know it will not go away because of the fear I now have of doctors,' she said.
Lawyers told The Straits Times that to compound an offence, also known as a composition, is to settle the matter without a conviction.
The victim must agree to it. But the prosecution can object if it believes that it is not in the public interest.
In 2004, a court threw out a bid by Premier Taxi chairman Timothy Chua, who was accused of assaulting another motorist, to get the case compounded for $7,500.
The prosecution had objected as road rage cases were on the increase.
Mr Chua was convicted and fined the maximum $1,000. He could also have been jailed for up to a year.
Courts also do not allow the composition of maid abuse cases.
Offences that could be compounded also include causing mischief or hurt, trespassing,and threatening or defaming some one.
If convicted, Dr Yong could have been jailed for up to three years and caned or fined.
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