Chief of operations at advertising firm acquitted of molest charge

The chief of operations at an advertising firm who was accused of molesting a copywriter at a company event has been acquitted, according to Channel NewsAsia (CNA). 

The man, who was not named due to a gag order on both parties, was cleared of the charge mainly because the prosecution had not proven its case and that closed-circuit television footage (CCTV) at the event was in the man's favour, according to District Judge Christopher Goh 

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The case happened in January 2020 when employees of the company went for a company event at a restaurant in Havelock Road. During the event, the emcee announced that the chief of operations in the case had won one of the top three prizes in a lucky draw which were two tickets to Japan. 

As he made his way to the stage, he allegedly walked by a 25-year-old copywriter and was accused of touching and patting the right side of the woman's hip using his hand. 

The copywriter reportedly worked in a different team from the chief and did not interact with him much. However, as he made his way to the stage, the copywriter alleged that the chief put his right hand on her shoulder and said "sorry" to her.

Thinking he needed space to move past her, she moved closer to her friend. However, the chief was already behind her, and she alleged that she felt him move his hand to her lower right hip. She immediately turned around, but his hand was still on her right buttock area which he reportedly patted a few times before moving past her, according to media reports.

The copywriter, in shock, told one of her senior female colleagues who let the copywriter's boss know what happened. The copywriter then sent a message to her boss explaining what had happened and left the restaurant. 

When other colleagues tried to confront the chief, he became aggressive and defensive and denied that he had touched her. 

In the trail, the prosecution called witnesses from the table adjacent to the copywriter's. One colleague at the table noted that she remembered the chief tapping the copywriter's butt or hip area as he walked by and that she was shocked as she felt there was enough space behind the woman for him to walk by without any physical contact. 

Another witness reported that they had seen the chief move his hand from the woman's waist to the top of her right buttock and that he patted it three times before he walked away. 

A third witness claimed they saw the chief trying to pass the woman but that he was unable to as a result of a lack of space. This witness said they saw him use his hands to hold the woman's elbow and shoulder to get her to move aside. 

When the copywriter had moved aside, the chief moved his hand to her back area and gave her three taps, according to the witness. 

CNA reported that the chief defended himself on the stand and said that he was playing cards at the back of the restaurant when he found out that he had won a prize. 

As he was walking to the stage, he was allegedly focused on collecting the prize. As the copywriter was blocking his way, he noted that he moved her aside or shifted her without thinking. He said that he did not recall coming into contact with her and stated that he was shocked and angry to hear of her allegations. 

The chief has since spoken to the woman with two others present and apologised saying that he might have moved her instinctively with his hand. The woman responded by saying "don't ever do it again". However, this upset the chief as he said what happened was unintentional. 

The women then lodged a police report. 

However, during court proceedings, Judge Goh noted that CCTV footage showed that the man placed his hand on the woman's right hip. However, it was unclear if he patted her hip as the footage did not show the incident. 

He added that he doubted the quality of the evidence presented by the prosecution witnesses who both said that they saw the chief pat the woman's hip. However, the CCTV footage "clearly showed otherwise", noted CNA. 

He added that both witnesses gave the impression that the passageway was wide enough for the chief to pass through but that CCTV footage showed that the passage was blocked by a waiter who both witnesses could not recall noticing. 

Judge Goh noted that he was unconvinced of the woman's claims and the prosecutors defense based on the CCTV footage and said that at best, he was only able to say that the accused's right hand did touch the victim's right hip as he walked by her. 

Judge Goh added that the chief's movements in the CCTV footage were consistent with someone making their way to stage to collect a prize and then to return to his table and that he "gently pushed" the victim aside while "trying to prevent any further bodily contact".

He added that the victim noted a mumbled 'sorry' as the chief went by indicating he was simply trying to move past her. 

Judge Goh continued by saying that while the man did put his hand on the victim's hip, he did not do so to violate her modesty. 

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