SINGAPORE: A man was sentenced to three years’ jail and 10 strokes of the cane on Friday (Apr 6) for molesting at least six schoolgirls aged 10 to 17.
Aldrin Illias, a staff nurse at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, would loiter along overhead bridges in northeastern Singapore early in the morning to lie in wait for schoolgirls.
He thought that if he molested them on their way to school, they would not have time to tell their parents, Deputy Public Prosecutor Chew Xin Ying said.
Aldrin, 39, would stick strips of masking tape onto his fingertips so he would not leave DNA evidence on the victims' clothing when he grabbed them, Ms Chew added.
He also opted to park in back alleys instead of car parks, avoiding CCTV cameras or POLCAMs which would capture his motorcycle in the vicinity.
Aldrin admitted to molesting six girls between Jul 5 and Jul 14 last year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHis modus operandi was to wait at the bottom of the overhead bridge until he spotted a potential victim.
He targeted girls in primary or secondary school uniforms, avoiding older girls because he thought they would be more likely to report an assault.
On Jul 14, Aldrin spotted his youngest victim, a 10-year-old girl, on the overhead bridge along Punggol Road. He met her at the top of the bridge and asked her: “Girl, which school you from?”.
He then squeezed the child’s breast.
On several other occasions, Aldrin would stop his victims by telling them that their uniforms were dirty before he grabbed their breasts.
Though none of the victims confronted Aldrin, each reported the assaults to their teachers or parents and made police reports.
On Jul 21, 2017, two policemen conducting an ambush operation spotted Aldrin at the foot of an overhead bridge along Anchorvale Road.
They questioned Aldrin, and though he feigned ignorance at first, he later admitted he had “touched a few students”, Ms Chew said.
Nearly a year earlier, in March 2016, Aldrin had exposed himself to an 11-year-old girl walking across an overhead bridge in Compassvale with her younger sister, she added.
A psychiatric report stated Aldrin had admitted his “sexually offensive behaviours” started in 2015, after he watched obscene videos online.
An Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist diagnosed Aldrin with frotteuristic disorder and exhibitionistic disorder, Ms Chew said. Those with frotteuristic disorder have urges to touch or rub themselves against a non-consenting person.
Though the diagnoses had contributed to his offending behaviour, they did not cause it.
“They did not deprive him of self-control … (Aldrin) was not of unsound mind and knew what he was doing was wrong”, the prosecutor said.
Aldrin pleaded guilty to seven of 15 charges, including six for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of six girls and one for exposing himself to another.
For using criminal force to outrage the girls’ modesty, Aldrin could have been jailed for up to two years and caned for each charge.
In the case of the 10-year-old victim, Aldrin could have faced up to five years in jail and caning.
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