Music producer and former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on 18 Nov for molesting a 25-year-old woman at his Hype Records office in Henderson Road on 23 Nov 2021.
The 61-year-old was executive director of the record company at the time of the incident. Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng convicted him of the molestation charge in September following a trial.
The victim’s identity cannot be disclosed owing to a gag order.
On 18 Nov, the prosecution applied for Lim’s five remaining charges to be withdrawn without revealing details. These charges related to allegations of improper behaviour involving three other women.
Judge Lee granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these five charges. This means Lim cannot be charged again with the same offences.
An offender convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to three years, fined, caned or receive any combination of such punishments. Lim cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.
Lim was represented by a team led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng and denied molesting the woman. SC Tan told the court that his client will be appealing against his conviction and sentence.
Suggestive Comments and Molestation During Work-Related Interviews
The victim had been invited to the Hype Records office as the company wanted to explore potential collaborations with her. She went in excited, seeing the opportunity as a major breakthrough for herself.
The woman, who was 25 at the time while Lim was 57, met him on three occasions for work-related interviews.
During the second meeting, Lim asked the woman whether she would “suck a director’s d*ck“, then assured her that it would not actually happen. He further asked her if she would “f** for a change”, warning that if not, she would leave the studio room with no change.
Lim later claimed that this was a figure of speech.
He also put his hand on her lower back as he saw her off at the lobby, and messaged her that he was “happy to tie [her] up, babe”, with a kissing or smiling emoji. The woman said she did not appreciate such sexual comments, and Lim replied that “everything is serious”.
The molestation occurred during their third meeting. Lim sat beside her and asked her to kiss him.
She did so, as she believed Lim was trying to test her, but was disgusted by it. Lim asked her to kiss him again with more passion.
The prosecutor highlighted that the offence was serious as there was skin-to-skin touching. Lim had reached his hand into the victim’s top and bra, touching her chest as they kissed without her consent.
The woman later shared details of the incident with her boyfriend at the time and a female friend, who both testified in court. The female friend said the woman had described the interview with Lim as “quite traumatic”.
The friend said she was told that Lim had forced the victim to kiss him. She told Judge Lee that he also said he wanted to tie her up, and that the woman “just seemed very traumatised by what had happened and very disgusted that she was forced to do things that she didn’t want to do”.
Lim was charged in 2023 with outraging the woman’s modesty by using criminal force to touch her breast, but he denied it and did not plead guilty.
Judge Lee convicted Lim on 26 Sep 2025, saying the victim was “unusually convincing” while Lim was “untruthful”. The judge found that Lim had “belatedly fabricated the allegations to distance himself from the contents of (his police statement), which contradicted his court testimony but aligned with (the woman’s) testimony on various points”.
The court ordered that he be imprisoned for 12 months for the molestation charge. The final sentence included an additional month of prison in lieu of caning.
Previous Acquittal in Separate Case Involving Different Woman
In 2024, Lim fought off allegations involving a different woman in a separate trial. She had accused him of making sexual comments, including asking “are you a virgin” and “what if I have sex with you right now”, while they were at the Hype Records car park on 25 Jul 2012.
After a trial, District Judge Wong Peck acquitted him on 11 Dec 2024. The judge said the woman’s testimony and evidence were inconsistent and embellished, and that she was not a credible witness.
Five women have separately accused Lim of molestation and insult of modesty, altogether bringing seven charges against him. Most of the incidents happened at the Hype Records office, while one took place at his home.
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