Former DPP Spencer Gwee found guilty of paid sex with underaged prostitute

Ginchiyo Tachibana

Alfrescian (InfP)

Generous Asset

• Jul 13, 2013

• #1

Former DPP Spencer Gwee found guilty of paid sex with underaged prostitute

Published on Jul 12, 2013

Former deputy public prosecutor Spencer Gwee (above) has been charged with paying for sex with an underage prostitute. Gwee was on Friday, July 12, 2013, found guilty of paid sex with an underaged prostitute. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Lim Yan Liang

Lawyer and ex-DPP Spencer Gwee was on Friday found guilty of paid sex with an underaged prostitute.

Judge Toh Yung Cheong said the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, and found the 61-year-old guilty of one charge of having paid the Vietnamese prostitute $300 for sex at Four Chain View Hotel in Geylang on the evening of July 19, 2011.

In his written grounds, the judge addressed several key areas of Gwee's defence, including his claim that he did not speak Vietnamese and never had a conversation with the girl, even though there were telco records of SMSes exchanged between their phones.

"The communication between (the girl) and the accused was more or less limited to requesting sexual intercourse; (she) was not claiming that the accused recited the Iliad or the Odyssey," said Judge Toh.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

 

StarshipTroopers

Alfrescian (InfP)

Generous Asset

• Jul 19, 2013

• #2

Updated: 07/19/2013 12:58 | By Channel NewsAsia

Lawyer gets four months' jail for having paid sex with underage escort

SINGAPORE: A lawyer was on Friday sentenced to four months' jail for paying a Vietnamese underage escort for sex.

This comes after District Judge Toh Yung Cheong found 60-year-old Spencer Gwee Hak Theng guilty on July 12.

Gwee was convicted of paying a 16-year-old escort S$300 for sexual services in July 2011. Under the law, it is an offence to have commercial sex with someone under 18 years of age.

Gwee, a former prosecutor, had contested the charge in February. His line of defence during the trial was that he did not know the girl, did not have sex with her, and did not pay her.

However, Judge Toh found the minor to be a credible witness who gave evidence with minor inconsistencies. He also said Gwee was not a credible witness.

On Friday, defence lawyer Subhas Anandan said in mitigation that Gwee has had no antecedents. The court also heard the contributions of Gwee as a lawyer and former prosecutor.

In the escort's testimony, she had told Gwee she was 19, making her older than she was.

Referring to the case of the Swiss national, Juerg Buergin, who was sentenced to four months and three weeks' jail for similar offences, the prosecution pushed for a jail term of six months.

Immediately after the jail term was handed down, Gwee instructed his lawyer to appeal against both the conviction and sentence.

Gwee, who was accompanied to court by his wife, is out on bail. - CNA/ac

 

M

Montagut

Alfrescian

Loyal

• Nov 16, 2013

• #3

High Court dismisses appeal by ex-prosecutor over sex with underage prostitute charge

Published on Nov 15, 2013

The appeal of former deputy public prosecutor Spencer Gwee Hak Theng over his conviction and four-month jail sentence for having sex with an underage prostitute was dismissed by the High Court on Nov 15, 2013. -- ST FILE PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

By Walter Sim

The appeal of former deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Spencer Gwee Hak Theng over his conviction for having sex with an underage prostitute was dismissed by the High Court on Friday.

The 60-year-old, who was convicted in July and sentenced to jail for four months for paying a 16-year-old Vietnamese prostitute $300 for sex at the Four Chain View Hotel in Geylang on the evening of July 19, 2011, will now take his case up to the Court of Appeal.

Now on bail, Gwee had previously denied having sex with the Vietnamese teen. During a 10-day trial, he said he had been discussing business with a client at a Geylang coffee shop around the time the offence occurred.

 

A

andrewteo

Alfrescian

Loyal

• Nov 17, 2013

• #4

Now he knows what it feels like to be at the receiving end.

 

V

Vermin

Alfrescian (Inf)

Asset

• Nov 19, 2013

• #5

Underage sex case: Judge throws out ex-DPP's appeal

The Straits Times
Monday, Nov 18, 2013

The appeal by a former deputy public prosecutor against his conviction for engaging in commercial sex with a minor was dismissed in the High Court on Friday.

Spencer Gwee Hak Theng, 60, was found guilty and sentenced to four months in jail by a district court in July for paying a 16-year-old Vietnamese prostitute $300 for sex at a hotel in Geylang.

In his judgment, Justice Choo Han Teck said: "The correct approach to take in this case is not to focus on the minutiae of what more the investigators and prosecution could and/or ought to have done."

Gwee intends to take his case to the Court of Appeal, said his lawyer Chelva Retnam Rajah, on the basis of the weight attached to evidence in cases where the age is a "critical element". The "best evidence" was not produced in Gwee's case, he added.

The lawyer had argued that the prosecution's reliance on the teenager's passport for her date of birth constituted "third-tier evidence". This is opposed to "first-tier evidence" such as her birth certificate or her mother's testimony. Her identity card would be "second-tier evidence".

Justice Choo said: "Something that is 'third tier' based on the appellant's classification may yet suffice to prove a fact beyond a reasonable doubt."

Currently out on $20,000 bail, Gwee has denied having sex with the teenager on July 19, 2011.

While an identification parade was not held during investigations, the judge noted that the teenager was arrested within a month of her arrival here for allegedly engaging in commercial sex. As a result, she would likely still remember Gwee.

The judge pointed out that she had singled out Gwee's phone number to the authorities, and identified him in court as a client, but added: "It was perhaps unfortunate that the hotel's CCTV footage from July 19, 2011 could not be obtained, as that may have been highly probative evidence."

 

S

StealEat

Alfrescian (Inf)

Asset

• May 12, 2014

• #6

Court of Appeal dismisses ex-DPP's case

Selina Lum
The Straits Times
Sunday, May 11, 2014

The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed an attempt by lawyer Spencer Gwee Hak Theng to get the highest court in Singapore to hear his case for having paid sex with a minor.

Gwee, 60, was found guilty and sentenced to four months in jail by a district court in July last year for paying a 16-year-old Vietnamese prostitute $300 for sex at a hotel in Geylang.

His appeal to the High Court was dismissed four months later by Justice Choo Han Teck.

But Gwee, who was a prosecutor in the early stages of his nearly 40-year legal career, then sought recourse to the apex court to decide on what he said were legal issues in his case.

His lawyer, Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah, argued yesterday the case raised three questions of law of public interest which the Court of Appeal should consider and rule on. The questions were: whether procedural safeguards existed in the photographic identification of offenders, whether the prosecution must use the "best evidence" to prove a minor's age, and the standard of proof a judge must use in hearing a criminal appeal.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor Terence Chua argued these were not questions of law of public interest and Gwee's attempt to bring his case to the apex court was simply a disguised appeal.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin, Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang and Justice Tay Yong Kwang, agreed that the case should go no further.

Justice Chao said the first two questions were not legal issues but questions of fact relating to the particular circumstances of Gwee's case and were matters for the trial judge to decide.

As for the third question, Justice Chao said every lawyer - as well as the judge who heard Gwee's appeal - knew the prosecution had to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Citing the Criminal Procedure Code, he noted that an appellate court can overturn the decision only when it is satisfied that the trial court was wrong in law or had gone against the weight of the evidence. In this case, he said, Justice Choo was satisfied the trial judge had not decided against the weight of the evidence.

Gwee was allowed to start serving his sentence on May 16.

In a separate case, the Court of Appeal granted more time to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to appeal against a decision by the High Court regarding contempt of court proceedings against blogger Alex Au.

Last November, the AGC had sought permission from the High Court to prosecute Mr Au for two articles he had published on his blog, Yawning Bread.

Justice Belinda Ang gave the green light for one post, made on Oct 5, in which he allegedly accused the Supreme Court of intentionally manipulating hearing dates. But she disallowed proceedings against a second post, dated Oct 12, which allegedly accused the judiciary of being incapable of making independent judgments.

The AGC appealed but missed the seven-day deadline because of a technical glitch in the electronic-filing system. It then asked a duty High Court judge for a time extension and was granted it. In March, however, the Court of Appeal found the duty judge did not have the power to grant a time extension. Since the application was therefore not valid, the court said it did not have the power to act on the AG's request.

Yesterday, the AGC returned to ask the three-judge Court of Appeal for a time extension to file its appeal. This time, it succeeded. The court also ruled that Mr Au's lawyer, Mr Choo Zheng Xi, can be present at the appeal - to be heard in July at the earliest - but he cannot make arguments.