Remember Terence Siow?
Back in 2019, Singaporeans were outraged when the NUS student was only given 21-months’ probation after molesting a woman on a train.
According to CNA, offenders above 21 usually only get probation when they either demonstrate an extremely strong propensity for reform or if there are exceptional circumstances.
So why did he get probation? Because his academic results showed he had the “potential to excel in life”.
Yes, people were enraged, and rightly so. But as they say, justice will prevail, and thankfully, after many months, it finally has.
NUS Student Who Molested a Woman Has His Probation Overturned; Now Jailed 2 Weeks
Siow’s probation for molesting a woman was overturned by the Chief Justice on Monday (27 Apr) after an appeal by the prosecution.
The 24-year-old will now have to serve two weeks’ jail for his crime.
In September 2018, Siow was on a train on the North-East Line towards Punggol when he spotted a woman.
He sat down next to her and claimed that he felt an irresistible urge to touch her.
He then touched her thigh with his hand twice.
He even followed her after she exited the train and stood behind her on the escalator, where he touched her buttocks over her shorts.
Yes, he clearly knew what he was doing was wrong, but he continued to do it even though the woman was clearly distressed.
Link Between Good Academic Performance & Staying Crime-free is “Tenuous”
Regarding his academic performance, the prosecutors argued that the link between good academic performance and staying crime-free is “tenuous, especially when the offending was sexually motivated”.
In other words, just because someone is performing well in school, doesn’t mean they’ll be a law-abiding citizen, especially when it comes to sexually-motivated crimes.
The prosecution also said that every student who qualifies for a university would have achieved a decent level of past academic performance, so it’s not like Siow was a special genius deserving of a Nobel prize or anything.
And even if he was, it shouldn’t matter, of course.
So, they urged the court to “reject the over-emphasis on the respondent’s strong academic performance, and called for three weeks’ jail, because probation was an “inappropriate sentence” that would be “a miscarriage of justice given the seriousness of the offence and the aggravating circumstances”.
Deterrence Remains the Primary Sentencing Objective
The Chief Justice explained that an offender’s academic performance is sometimes considered because multiple factors have to be taken into account when assessing an offender’s potential for reform.
Judges usually focus more on the offender’s traits than the aspects of the offence, which is why Siow’s academic performance was taken into account.
However, even if an “extremely strong” propensity for reform is shown, deterrence remains the primary sentencing objective, said the Chief Justice.
This is because Siow is an adult offender and rehabilitation is usually for offenders under 21.
The Chief Justice also agreed with the prosecutors that the fact Siow had molested a woman at the same time as when he was performing well in university showed he could easily separate the two.
Moreover, Siow had admitted that he had done this before, saying he started touching women in crowded buses or trains since August 2016.
Siow, who was suspended by NUS in October 2018, will now have to serve two weeks’ jail.
Whether two weeks is enough for such an offence is another debate altogether, but at least he’s being punished for what he did.
For each count of molestation, Siow could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given a combination of these punishments.