<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>
Molestation case settled, doc apologises
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A DOCTOR yesterday read out in court an apology to his patient for having caused her distress and discomfort when he examined her.
Dr Yong Voon Pin, 48, of Healthline Women's Clinic at Mount Alvernia Medical Centre, was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the molestation charge.
As part of the settlement, he read out a statement saying he was 'sincerely sorry' for the distress that his examination had 'unwittingly' caused.
He added: 'I am very grateful for this opportunity to show my deepest regret at having caused you such unhappiness and for creating any misunderstanding with a longstanding patient of mine.'
His lawyer, Senior Counsel Michael Khoo, told the court that the obstetrician-gynaecologist also paid the woman, aged 33, $51,000 to settle the matter.
He allegedly touched her breasts, her abdomen and thigh in the November 2006 incident.
The woman, who cannot be named for privacy reasons, agreed that the matter be compounded.
She told the court she wanted to put the incident behind her, but added: 'I know it will not go away because of the fear I now have of doctors.'
Lawyers told The Straits Times that a compounded offence is one settled without a conviction.
The victim must agree to it, although the prosecution can object if it believes it is not in the public interest.
In 2005, the court threw out a bid by a company chairman, accused of assaulting another motorist, to have the case compounded for $7,500. The prosecution objected, as road rage cases were on the rise.
The chairman was fined the maximum $1,000, although he escaped being jailed up to a year.
Courts will also disallow composition of maid abuse cases.
Compoundable offences include causing mischief or hurt, threatening or defaming someone, and less serious cases of molestation involving no assault or force. The penalty for such molestation offences is a jail term of up to two years with caning or a fine.
Molestation case settled, doc apologises
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A DOCTOR yesterday read out in court an apology to his patient for having caused her distress and discomfort when he examined her.
Dr Yong Voon Pin, 48, of Healthline Women's Clinic at Mount Alvernia Medical Centre, was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the molestation charge.
As part of the settlement, he read out a statement saying he was 'sincerely sorry' for the distress that his examination had 'unwittingly' caused.
He added: 'I am very grateful for this opportunity to show my deepest regret at having caused you such unhappiness and for creating any misunderstanding with a longstanding patient of mine.'
His lawyer, Senior Counsel Michael Khoo, told the court that the obstetrician-gynaecologist also paid the woman, aged 33, $51,000 to settle the matter.
He allegedly touched her breasts, her abdomen and thigh in the November 2006 incident.
The woman, who cannot be named for privacy reasons, agreed that the matter be compounded.
She told the court she wanted to put the incident behind her, but added: 'I know it will not go away because of the fear I now have of doctors.'
Lawyers told The Straits Times that a compounded offence is one settled without a conviction.
The victim must agree to it, although the prosecution can object if it believes it is not in the public interest.
In 2005, the court threw out a bid by a company chairman, accused of assaulting another motorist, to have the case compounded for $7,500. The prosecution objected, as road rage cases were on the rise.
The chairman was fined the maximum $1,000, although he escaped being jailed up to a year.
Courts will also disallow composition of maid abuse cases.
Compoundable offences include causing mischief or hurt, threatening or defaming someone, and less serious cases of molestation involving no assault or force. The penalty for such molestation offences is a jail term of up to two years with caning or a fine.
