A Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) lieutenant-colonel, Neo Aik Chiao, has been jailed for four weeks for molesting a 21-year-old female student at a dormitory in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2022.

The 47-year-old was sentenced on Mar. 19, 2024, The Straits Times reported.

He had pleaded guilty to one count of molest and one count of criminal trespass on Jan. 10.

Another charge of criminal trespass was also taken into consideration during his sentencing.

Neo, who was a helicopter pilot, was suspended from all military duties by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) following the incident.

A gag order has also been placed on the name of the victim and the specific location of the incident.

What happened on the day of the incident?

On Nov. 13, 2022, the student had been using her phone in her room at about 2am when she heard someone knocking on the door. Before she could react, Neo entered the room without asking for her permission and locked the door.

He sat on her bed and asked for water, saying that he had climbed many stairs and felt thirsty.

The student replied that there was a drinking fountain outside where Neo could get water from.

Neo did not leave the room. Instead, he continued asking her questions such as directions to other halls in NTU and where she was from.

He then asked her if she wanted to "accompany" him for S$1,000 as a way to earn some extra income.

Realising that Neo was making a sexual request, the student said that she did not need the extra money and asked him to leave the room.

Neo touched her left thigh instead.

When she repeated her request, he stood up from the bed, walked over to her and touched her left arm.

Neo then placed his hands on her shoulders and said in Mandarin, "Is $1,000 okay? Can you accompany me?"

At this the point, the student was scared, and pushed Neo away, yelling at him to leave the room.

He subsequently walked to the door, then said that it was locked and that he could not open it.

The student took out her phone to call a friend for help, and Neo unlocked the door and left after seeing this.

The student also called campus security and filed a police report.

Defence: Neo had planned to visit his godfather's home instead of NTU

On Jan. 10, 2024, Neo's lawyers, Sunil Sudheesan and Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer, said that Neo was intoxicated from drinking beer before the incident happened and had ended up at NTU instead of his godfather's home.

His godfather had passed away on Jun. 30, 2022, and Neo had planned to go to his godfather's home to seek solace.

The lawyers also said that as an NTU alumnus, Neo saw the university as “a place of fond memories and familiarity”.

An Institute of Mental Health (IMH) report stated that Neo was not unsound of mind at the time of the offence but that his intoxication might have had a partial contributory link to his loss of restraint.

The prosecution had asked the judge to sentence Neo to 12 weeks in jail, while the defence argued that he should be fined around S$10,000 instead because it was out of character for Neo and a one-off incident.

Top photo via NTU News