A DOCTOR who molested a maid during a medical examination has been sentenced to 10 months in jail.
Steven Ho Ah Hoo, 54, was found guilty of touching the Filipina's breasts on April 25, 2005, at the Global Network Medical Centre in Jalan Bukit Merah.
He is out on bail pending the outcome of an appeal against the conviction and sentence.
During the five-day trial before District Judge Kow Keng Siong, Ho claimed that the maid had made the allegation only because she wanted to extract money from him.
But under cross-examination, he conceded that she never demanded money at any point in time.
He created a stir when he said that foreigners have "lesser rights" than Singaporeans.
The comment came after he accused the maid's agents of breaching the Immigration Act by allowing her to stay overnight at one of their homes.
To buttress the claim, he produced a copy of another foreign national's work permit conditions taken from his medical file.
Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Imran Abdul Hamid whether he had respected patient-doctor confidentiality and sought that patient's permission, Ho said he had not.
"Foreigners have lesser rights," he declared.
In his defence on the molestation charge, Ho said that the door of his consultation room was kept open while he was with the maid.
But the 25-year-old woman, at the clinic for a six-monthly medical examination, testified that the door was closed and that she was alone with Ho.
After the medical check-up, she spoke to the clinic staff who confirmed that a breast examination was not needed.
Ho's lawyer, Goh Teck Wee, pleaded for leniency, but Imran pointed out that the accused had abused his position of trust.
A doctor since 1977, Ho was in 2003 acquitted of molesting a medical products sales promoter after the matter was compounded – meaning that it was settled between the parties involved. – The Straits Times / Asia News Network
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