Pet shop owner gets 7 years' preventive detention for molesting teen girl
The High Court judge said the accused was at high risk of reoffending, especially against underage girls.
A pet shop owner, previously jailed for rape, has been sentenced to seven years of preventive detention for molesting a 13-year-old girl. This comes less than two years after his release from an earlier prison term.
The defendant, Toh Lam Seng, 54, had appealed the initial verdict and sentence, while the prosecution sought a harsher sentence.
On Monday, June 30, the High Court judge imposed a stricter sentence on Toh.
He had faced four charges, including indecent assault, voluntarily causing hurt, and a Customs Act violation. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and was sentenced to five years of reformative imprisonment after trial.
Victim wanted to treat hamster's skin condition
The victim had bought a hamster from Toh's pet shop in 2020. On June 22 that year, she returned to the store to purchase powder for the hamster's skin condition. Toh offered to show her a new baby hamster, and she agreed.
While she was holding the animal, Toh allegedly touched her inappropriately, including her knees, shoulders, chest, and inner thighs. The victim described feeling "frozen" at the time, unsure how to react.
She eventually got away by telling Toh she needed to go home, pushing back the stool she was seated on before leaving the shop. After leaving, she told two friends what had happened, and later confided in a teacher.
She explained that she didn't immediately tell her mother out of shame, as she felt that her mother might think she was "stupid" for not heeding advice to be careful around Toh and stop visiting the shop.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the trial judge found the assault allegations unproven but said this did not mean the victim was unreliable. The judge noted that her delayed report did not affect her credibility.
Dissatisfied with the conviction and sentence, Toh appealed to the High Court. He argued that the victim's testimony was inconsistent and that her failure to immediately report the incident undermined her credibility. He also claimed that the five-year reformative training sentence was too harsh.
High risk of reoffending, says High Court
The prosecution also appealed the sentence, arguing that the defendant had a history of offences against young women and that the court should prioritise public protection over rehabilitation.
On June 30, the High Court judge noted that it was particularly troubling that Toh had continued to target underage girls at his store. Over the past 30 years, he had committed a string of violent offences.
Although the current charges of indecent assault and voluntarily causing hurt were less severe, they demonstrated a persistent disregard for the law and a lack of deterrence.
The judge also noted that reports on both preventive and reformative detention indicated a high risk of reoffending.
Despite spending much of his life in prison, Toh had shown no signs of rehabilitation or remorse.
The judge concluded that Toh was likely to reoffend, particularly against underage girls, and posed a continued threat to society, warranting the seven-year preventive detention sentence.