Ken Lim, best known for being a stone-faced judge on ‘Singapore Idol’, will be facing a total of five court trials in due time.
He will do this as he’s contesting seven charges against him, all relating to sexual offences.
This came about after a judge rejected the prosecution’s application for a joint trial for all the charges.
Source: Hype Records on Facebook
Lim’s lawyers have said that having separate trials is “proper and fair”.
At a hearing on Friday (17 Nov), Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Gail Wong applied for a joint trial, reported Channel NewsAsian (CNA).
She said all of Lim’s seven alleged offences are of “similar character” and shared a “common thread”.
Firstly, as the director of Hype Records, he had allegedly targeted young women who worked with him.
Source: Hype Records on Facebook
Secondly, he allegedly made “sexual overtures” to the women, including allegedly making sexual contact with one alleged victim of molestation.
Finally, using the defence’s words against them, Ms Wong pointed out that they had asked for the trial to be expedited so that Lim could clear his name.
Thus, she asked the judge to “grant him his wish” by allowing a joint trial.
Lim’s lawyers, who are from WongPartnership, objected to a joint trial.
They said a joint trial is appropriate only when alleged offences have the proximity of time, the proximity of location and the same set of facts.
However, Lim’s alleged offences didn’t overlap in time — the oldest one was in 1998, while others had no definite date, said Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng. Their alleged locations were also inconsistent, he added.
Additionally, the descriptions of his client’s alleged acts were different, the defence said.
Mr Tan also accused the prosecution of “throwing other charges that are unrelated” when Lim wanted to face the initial molestation charge head-on.
When District Judge Wong Peck told him that Lim might face five trials, his lawyer agreed, saying,
Justice hurried is justice buried, and my client is very clear — let it be five trials, but he doesn’t want to be prejudiced.
That’s because they felt that the trial(s) should be “proper and fair”, he added.
Eventually, the judge ruled for the defence, saying all seven charges shouldn’t be heard in one trial.
A joint trial would be prejudicial to Lim since all five victims in those charges don’t know each other, she added.
Thus, Lim, 59, will face five trials — one for each alleged victim.
Lim’s legal troubles started when he was charged with molestation on 30 Mar.
He was accused of touching a 25-year-old woman’s chest in his office at Hype Records back in November 2021.
On 28 June, he was slapped with five more charges, all of them for allegedly insulting the modesty of three women between 1998 and 2013.
Another three months later on 20 Sep, Lim was charged a seventh time, again for insulting a woman’s modesty.
He allegedly asked a woman, “Are you a virgin?” and, “What if I have sex with you right now?”
If convicted of molestation, he may be imprisoned for up to two years and/or fined. Offenders over 50 will not be caned.
Those found guilty of insulting a woman’s modesty may get a year’s jail and/or a fine for each charge.
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Featured image adapted from Hype Records on Facebook and MS News.
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