A doctor who runs a private clinic at Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Orchard Road was acquitted on Monday (16 Aug) of all four criminal charges of molesting a woman nearly four years ago.
52-year-old Dr Yeo Sow Nam was cleared of all the charges when the prosecution decided to drop them. Dr Yeo’s lawyers had managed to get the complainant to confess a few times that she had lied while testifying in court.
Additionally, closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the corridor to his consultation room, where she claimed some of the molestations had occurred, also helped his defence.
The identity and occupation of the 33-year-old woman cannot be revealed due to a court order, which covers her relationship to Dr Yeo. The court had also previously heard that she was not a patient, employee, or fellow doctor.
Commenting about the ordeal, Dr Yeo told TODAY in an interview that he never had “the slightest doubt” that he will be one day be acquitted, adding that the whole process was painful and humiliating.
“However, along the way, before this ultimate decision of dropping charges mid-trial, it was painful. I was stopped at customs (over passport issues), asked to report to the police and procedurally, they had to handcuff me before I was bailed out,” he recounted.
“It was humiliating; a lot of ignominy, public shame, a feeling of persecution by the country I love when I haven’t even done anything wrong.”
If that’s not all, the anaesthetist was also dismissed as a visiting consultant at a public hospital soon after he was charged, and lost several patients at his own clinic, The Pain Specialist.
Dr Yeo also had a hard time leaving Singapore to treat his long-time patients living abroad.
To make it worse, the legal proceedings also affected his family and close friends. When the allegations first surfaced, his daughter and son were only 17 and 20 years old respectively. His daughter left to the United Kingdom to pursue her tertiary education shortly after the news broke.
In terms of how to handle the matter, Dr Yeo and his wife advised them to just ignore harsh comments on social media and from anyone around them.
During the interview, Dr Yeo’s wife said that it hurt them to go through “unkind humiliation and treatment in public” and have his picture published in the news.
“Especially for children, I don’t think they have any peers to talk to about it,” she added.
Legal fees reached up to more than S$600,000
For the case, the couple had to spend more than S$600,000 for Dr Yeo’s legal expenses, hiring a few lawyers before settling for lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam and his team.
“It was financially and emotionally draining… a very tough and very brutal process, almost to the point that sometimes, I felt it was not possible. Except when I started looking at the truth, look at what it is – I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Dr Yeo.
One good thing about this ordeal is that most of his loved ones and patients stood by him during the event, with many of them sending him supportive emails or character references and prayed for him.
“I wish that the minority who continue to think and just believe the first line of accusations learn to have some wisdom,” he said.
“Learn to think and wait for the facts before they throw a stone at the person who is accused.”
Looking back at the whole unpleasant experience, Dr Yeo expressed that there was nothing that he could have done differently, adding that he even asked two female nurses to be in the room along with the complainant that evening.
“I’ve done all I can. I spoke the truth, I co-operated… but I had to go through the hard and blistering process,” he said.
When asked if any action will be taken against the complainant, Dr Yeo said that he is discussing with his legal counsel at the moment. He also described her as “dishonest and dishonourable”, calling for enough deterrence for people who abuse the law.
However, he asserted that he hopes this will not discourage true victims of sex crimes to come forward and raise the issues.
The prosecution has not said if it will charge the complainant with perjury.
Separately, the anaesthetist also pointed out that he may become stricter with those who visit his clinic, and even possibly barring them from entry.
“As a medical doctor, we just want to do good and continue to do good even if it’s hard. But I hope the process, the system, can also safeguard us,” said Dr Yeo.
“When there’s a false accuser, please realise it earlier and help the real victim.”
Online users want complainant to pay the price for lying
Over on social media, many netizens symphatised with Dr Yeo for the ordeal he went through, adding that having his face published in the media only made his humiliation even worse.
Penning their thoughts in the Facebook page of TODAY, they said that the damage to Dr Yeo’s career from this case must be “significant”. A handful of them also expressed that they felt sorry for him for having to fork up so much money to pay legal expenses and have his reputation tainted badly.
Many others slammed the 33-year-old woman for lying in court and for accusing an innocent man of crimes that he did not commit.
They argued that she should be jailed and be asked to pay the legal fees of Dr Yeo. They also said that the doctor should sue her for accusing him wrongly, and questioned why the gag order was only applied to the woman.
Some pointed out that if someone poor was charged in this case, then they may have not been able to defend themselves like Dr Yeo as they may not be able to afford S$600,000 for legal fees.
As such, they question the fairness of the country’s legal system as one has to have large sum of money to prove their innocence in court.
