Taxi Driver Jailed for Molestation After Touching Crotch of 13YO Boy While Driving Him Home

Some people do their job extremely well, going above and beyond what’s expected of them to help you with what you set out for them to do.

However, others taint the reputation of these professions with their selfish and disgusting motives.

For going the extra mile doesn’t mean overstepping one’s boundaries to take advantage of  customers who trust them.

Taxi Driver Jailed After Molesting Boy

After he was found being guilty of molesting a teenage boy who was his passenger in 2017, a part-time taxi driver was jailed on Tuesday (13 Apr).

58-year-old Chew Lye Beng will no longer serve passengers as a taxi driver, but will only serve 14 months and three weeks in jail.

The additional three weeks in his jail sentence were in replacement of three strokes of the cane, to which he cannot receive as he is over 50 years old.

One charge of molestation was held against him last month when he was convicted.

The victim was a schoolboy of 13-years-old at the time, who boarded Chew’s ComfortDelGro taxi along with his friend after school on 21 July, 2017.

Chew had asked the boy to sit in the front passenger seat, while the boy’s friend sat in the backseat.

They were headed to the boy’s Clementi condominium, as he had wanted to grab a change of clothes and another bag before returning to school for his co-curricular activity (CCA).

Touched Boy While “Helping” With His Seatbelt

Some taxi drivers enjoy striking up engaging conversations with their passengers, which isn’t a problem until it becomes too personal or weird.

And that’s what Chew did, who kept asking the boy personal questions throughout the journey. He even reached out to pinch his cheek quite a few times.

Upon reaching the boy’s condominium, Chew attempted to help him unbuckle his seatbelt—but it was actually a cover for what he really wanted to do.

He touched the boy’s crotch twice while doing so, as testified by the boy and his friend.

The harassment didn’t end there, for Chew got out of the car with the two boys and asked the victim where he could find a toilet there.

He then incessantly asked the victim to accompany him to the toilet, to which the victim agreed after a while.

When the boy’s friend attempted to follow them into the toilet as well, Chew stopped him from coming in.

This scared the victim, who refused to go in with the taxi driver thereafter.

Both boys went up to the victim’s house and dug around for a penknife, which alarmed the boy’s mother as they told her it was for “self-defence” in case Chew hadn’t left the condominium.

She made a report to ComfortDelGro later with a photograph of Chew’s license plate, which had been captured by the condominium’s CCTV cameras.

After informing his teacher about the incident when he returned to school for his CCA, the boy also made a police report at the Bukit Timah Neighbourhood Police Post later in the evening.

They arrested Chew the following afternoon.

He Attempted to Make Excuses

Chew remained unapologetic about his behaviour (the boy was a minor!) even while on trial.

He claimed that he was only trying to help the victim remove the defective seatbelt which resulted in him touching the victim.

According to him, he had proof of the defect, which was reported to ComfortDelGro. Later, he admitted that he had never made such a report in the first place.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Kee En said that Chew was “highly opportunistic” as a taxi driver ferrying such a young passenger.

Chew even tried to mask his bad intentions with excuses like the defective seatbelt, wanting to go to the toilet, and more.

The case was made worse when Chew attempted to make even more excuses during the trial, including saying that he didn’t understand English when he requested for it to be in English and claiming that another DPP’s Indian accent was difficult to understand.

For using criminal force on the boy and touching his private parts, Chew could have faced a fine, a jail term of up to five years, or both.

Feature Image: karanik yimpat / Shutterstock.com