A serial sexual offender pretended to be a doctor to earn the trust of seven young girls before he abused them at staircase landings.
The then human resource manager sometimes carried a thermometer, surgical gloves or what appeared to be a stethoscope to look the part in the incidents which occurred from at least 2004 until his arrest on June 15, 2010. The victims were between nine and 12 years old.
Ng Ban Keong, now jobless, would ask some of them for directions, and get them to lead him to the unit he claimed to be looking for.
He would then molest or sexually assault them while pretending to perform medical check-ups.
On Friday, the 55-year-old father of two pleaded guilty in a district court to three charges of molestation and one of sexual penetration of a minor.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail Wong said Ng, who was afflicted with erectile dysfunction in 2002, committed the offences and watched Japanese pornographic movies to satisfy his sexual urges.
On Sept 13, 2004, he asked an 11-year-old girl to show him the way to a flat on Clementi Avenue 4. He claimed to be a doctor looking for a schoolgirl who was absent from a health check.
At a staircase landing, he took out a thermometer and what appeared to be a stethoscope. After she had unbuttoned the top button of her school blouse, he pressed her breasts on the pretext of checking for 'lumps'.
When he lifted her skirt under the pretext of doing further checks, she said no. But he assured her and pressed the lower part of her stomach several times.
Claiming to be 'Dr Tan' from Clementi Polyclinic, Ng similarly lured a 10-year-old girl to a staircase landing in September 2005 and molested her.
Another victim, aged nine, was walking home on Oct 26, 2009, when Ng, again posing as a doctor, asked her for directions. At a staircase landing, he blindfolded and molested her.
He took her to another block on Sims Drive, where he sexually assaulted her while she was blindfolded.
On May 21, 2010, he alighted from the same bus as an 11-year-old schoolgirl on Victoria Street. He spoke to her and found out that she was from a nearby school. He lied that he was a doctor instructed by her principal to do a check-up for her school.
He led her to a staircase landing in the Golden Landmark Shopping Centre carpark, where he touched her private parts. He then blindfolded her with a handkerchief and sexually abused her.
Seeking a total sentence of 12 years, DPP Wong argued that there were a number of aggravating factors in the case which warranted the stiff sentence.
She said Ng exploited vulnerable young girls, was a serial offender over a prolonged period and deceived the victims into believing he was a doctor.
The offences showed an escalation in the severity of the offending and increased risk posed by Ng to the public. He had a clear sexual interest in prepubescent females, and posed a significant risk to the victims.
Ng's lawyers Subhas Anandan and Sunil Sudheesan asked for time to prepare a mitigation plea and consider the DPP's submissions. Mr Anandan will be raising the question of whether the district court has the power to pass a sentence exceeding seven years as the limit in the old Criminal Procedure Code was up to seven years.
The new CPC provides that a district court may pass a jail sentence of up to 10 years.
In this case, Ng has consented to the proceedings to be tried under the new CPC.
District Judge Roy Neighbour adjourned the case to March 23. Ng was also charged with molesting three other girls. He faced a total of six more charges, which will be considered during sentencing.
Source: ST Online
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