S'porean chef, then 62, sexually assaults girl, 11, in restaurant with others present, gets 8.5 years' jail

A 63-year-old Singaporean chef who sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl in a restaurant with others present was sentenced on Aug. 26 to eight and a half years' jail.

Court documents seen by Mothership stated that Kassim Juhamat, who sexually assaulted the girl for about half an hour, faced a total of four charges.

Charges

He pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault by penetration, with three other charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

They include two charges for molesting her and one charge for committing an obscene act with her.

Kassim's jail term includes six months' jail in lieu of caning as he is above 50 years old and cannot be caned.

June 2025

Court documents stated that at the time of his offences, Kassim, then 62, worked as a chef in a restaurant.

The victim, who occasionally visited an individual at the restaurant, became acquainted with the accused and addressed him as "Uncle Kassim".

The girl and the individual's relationship cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect her identity.

At about 4:17pm on Jun. 27, 2025, the girl entered the restaurant and sat at a corner table beside Kassim, who was resting at a corner table.

Other staff and customers were present at the time.

Sexual assault

Shortly after, the girl asked Kassim to scratch her lower back as it was itchy.

He then used his left hand to scratch her lower back over her shirt, but later moved his hand under her shirt and asked if he could touch her chest.

The girl kept saying no and leaned her body forward towards the table to prevent Kassim from touching her.

However, he still managed to touch her with his left hand.

Though the girl wanted to leave the table, Kassim held her right hand tightly and kissed her mouth.

While still seated at the table, he moved his hand inside the girl's clothes and sexually violated her.

Later, he removed his hand from her clothes and took her hand to make her do an obscene act.

Court documents stated that "the victim felt disgusted and tried to move her hand away, but the accused held onto her hand tightly".

He also asked her if she wanted to touch him, to which she said "no".

Discovery of offence

It was only close to 5pm that Kassim let go of her hand, telling the girl not to tell anyone what had happened.

The girl wanted to tell someone what had happened, but fell asleep before she could do so.

On Jun. 28, 2025, the girl visited the restaurant, where the individual noticed she was acting differently towards Kassim and repeatedly asked her what happened.

The girl then explained what the accused did to her.

The individual immediately confronted the accused, who initially denied the girl's allegations against him.

He admitted to the allegations only after the individual said that she would report the matter to the police and check the closed-circuit television footage from the restaurant.

One of the restaurant's managers who learnt of what happened, lodged a police report on the girl's behalf.

Arrested

The prosecution called for a jail term of between eight and nine years for Kassim, with an additional six months' jail in lieu of caning.

He was arrested by the police on Jun. 29, 2025, and he remained in custody since then.

Kassim was then charged in the State Courts on Jun. 30, 2025.