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SINGAPORE: A prison officer was sentenced to 27 months’ jail on Friday (Aug 12) for repeatedly molesting a male inmate at Admiralty West Prison in 2015.
Sergeant Mohamed Faris Osman, 47, was found guilty of nine counts of molest, after he assaulted a 20-year-old inmate over three months, from July to October 2015.
Faris’ offences came to light when a fellow officer noticed the inmate seemed "depressed and distressed", "as if he was on the brink of tears", the officer, who coaxed the truth out of the victim, said.
In court on Friday, District Judge May Mesenas said Faris had abused his position of authority to harass the inmate. "Being a prison inmate, who was, 'cabined, cribbed and confined', he was clearly vulnerable as he was unable to retaliate whenever (Faris) molested him", Judge Mesenas said.
Faris was found guilty in June after a nine-day trial, during which he flatly denied the allegations, including that he had used the antennae of his walkie-talkie to poke the inmate’s buttocks twice, and grabbed, rubbed, slapped and squeezed the inmate’s buttocks and private parts on multiple occasions.
When the inmate rebuked him, Faris told the man: “Officer sayang you, why you no sayang officer (sic)?”
During his tormentor’s trial, the inmate told the court he felt "humiliated", "bullied" and had an "inferiority complex" as a result of the sexual assaults, court documents state. He said he feared his sentence would be increased if he made a complaint against Faris.
Faris, an officer of 27 years, denied the allegations, saying he would not be "so silly" to commit such offences and risk punishment.
He has since been interdicted from service, a spokesperson for the Singapore Prison Service confirmed.
Judge Mesenas said Faris was "an untruthful witness" who gave inconsistent statements, and was "unable to give sufficiently credible and coherent explanations".
In contrast, Judge Mesenas had said the inmate’s evidence was "unusually convincing", noting that he had no motive to bring false allegations against the accused. In fact, "he had been prepared to tolerate these instances of humiliation ... as he did not want his sentence to be (affected)", the judge said.
For molest, Faris could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined or caned, per charge.
Sergeant Mohamed Faris Osman, 47, was found guilty of nine counts of molest, after he assaulted a 20-year-old inmate over three months, from July to October 2015.
Faris’ offences came to light when a fellow officer noticed the inmate seemed "depressed and distressed", "as if he was on the brink of tears", the officer, who coaxed the truth out of the victim, said.
In court on Friday, District Judge May Mesenas said Faris had abused his position of authority to harass the inmate. "Being a prison inmate, who was, 'cabined, cribbed and confined', he was clearly vulnerable as he was unable to retaliate whenever (Faris) molested him", Judge Mesenas said.
Faris was found guilty in June after a nine-day trial, during which he flatly denied the allegations, including that he had used the antennae of his walkie-talkie to poke the inmate’s buttocks twice, and grabbed, rubbed, slapped and squeezed the inmate’s buttocks and private parts on multiple occasions.
When the inmate rebuked him, Faris told the man: “Officer sayang you, why you no sayang officer (sic)?”
During his tormentor’s trial, the inmate told the court he felt "humiliated", "bullied" and had an "inferiority complex" as a result of the sexual assaults, court documents state. He said he feared his sentence would be increased if he made a complaint against Faris.
Faris, an officer of 27 years, denied the allegations, saying he would not be "so silly" to commit such offences and risk punishment.
He has since been interdicted from service, a spokesperson for the Singapore Prison Service confirmed.
Judge Mesenas said Faris was "an untruthful witness" who gave inconsistent statements, and was "unable to give sufficiently credible and coherent explanations".
In contrast, Judge Mesenas had said the inmate’s evidence was "unusually convincing", noting that he had no motive to bring false allegations against the accused. In fact, "he had been prepared to tolerate these instances of humiliation ... as he did not want his sentence to be (affected)", the judge said.
For molest, Faris could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined or caned, per charge.
