Singaporeans decry judge’s move to spare NUS student Terence Siow from jail for molest charge
- The judge put Terence Siow, 23, on probation for 21 months, saying his academic results and other factors suggested he had strong ‘propensity to reform’
- But prosecutors appealed and even Law Minister K.Shanmugam weighed in after thousands signed a petition protesting ‘favourable sentences for educated sex offenders’
A Singapore judge’s decision to sentence a university student who molested a woman to probation instead of jail has sparked outrage, with prosecutors on Friday appealing and the law minister endorsing their move.
Terence Siow, 23, who attends the National University of Singapore (NUS), was convicted on one count of outraging the modesty of the woman by following her after she got off a subway train and using his finger to touch the part of her shorts covering her buttocks.
On Wednesday he was given a 21-month probation order by District Court judge Jasvender Kaur, who found Siow had not been able to control his urge but that the molestation was “minor”.
Siow’s academic results showed he had the “potential to excel in life”, the judge said, adding that this and other factors left her in “no doubt that there is extremely strong propensity to reform”.
But after an uproar on social media and thousands signing an online petition in protest against “favourable sentences for educated sex offenders”, Minister for Law K. Shanmugam took to Facebook to say he agreed with the Attorney General’s Chambers plan to lodge an appeal at the High Court.
“This is consistent with my views as well,” he said, adding that he was “surprised” at the verdict, and the woman’s father had written to him.
