SINGAPORE — A veteran doctor will serve time behind bars for molesting his patient on two occasions, after his appeal against conviction and sentence was dismissed by the High Court.
Winston Lee Siew Boon, 71, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail last year by the State Courts. He was found guilty of touching the breast of a 38-year-old medical sales representative on two occasions in 2011 at Thong Hoe Clinic in Bukit Batok.
Issuing his 117-page written judgment today (July 20), Justice Chan Seng Onn found the trial judge “not plainly wrong” in finding the patient to be “unusually convincing”.
Lee, represented by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, had inserted his hand into the woman’s bra and touched her left breast in June and October 2011. The first time, she had gone to Lee wanting a HIV test and was instructed to lie on the treatment bed after complaining of nausea and stomach wind. She informed the doctor of slight chest pain and he molested her. She did not go to the police then, thinking it was appropriate.
On the second occasion, she was feeling unwell and told Lee she was exercising to manage her weight. After she asked if she could exercise, he molested her. The patient was confused and later texted her former boss and a doctor to ask if the touch was necessary. They said no and she made a police report the next day.
Justice Chan agreed with the trial judge and prosecution that it was highly unlikely the woman would go to extreme lengths to falsely accuse Lee. The judge found a former police statement Lee had given — where he said he had touched the patient’s breast, albeit unintentionally — to be corroborative.
Mr Singh had sought to poke holes in the woman’s evidence — for instance, arguing that she could not remember many details of the June incident, such as where she was initially seated in the consultation room. However, Justice Chan noted that a patient may not “necessarily remember” all details which are of a “relatively minor and insignificant nature”.
The sentence of 10 months’ jail was not manifestly excessive, Justice Chan found.
The judge chided Lee for abusing his position of trust and molesting the patient a second time after she had given him the benefit of the doubt.
“It is loathsome that he did not relent and tried it again by molesting her twice on the second occasion,” said Justice Chan.
Lee was “particularly cunning in disguising his act of molestation” as part of his explanation of a potential medical problem, he added.
Lee will begin his sentence on August 17 after the court was told he needed time to settle his affairs, which include handing over 70,000 patients to other doctors.
Source: TODAY NEWS
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