SINGAPORE: Former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim Chih Chiang has been acquitted of making sexual comments to an aspiring singer-songwriter 12 years ago.
The verdict was delivered by District Judge Wong Peck at the State Courts on Wednesday (Dec 11), in the first of five trials that Lim is fighting.
Lim was accused of asking a 26-year-old woman if she was a virgin and what would happen if he had sex with her right then on Jul 25, 2012.
This allegedly happened at their second meeting, when the woman met the music producer in his office at Hype Records for advice on a career in the industry.
She made a police report more than a decade later, in June 2023, after seeing news reports of Lim being charged with making sexual remarks to other women.
Lim was charged in September 2023 with insulting the woman’s modesty, which carries a jail term of up to one year, a fine, or both.
At trial, the prosecution relied on evidence from the woman, as well as her husband and her family members on what she told them after meeting Lim.
Lim, 60, took the stand in his own defence at the trial, saying that the woman was telling “blatant” lies and took his comments on her music “too personally”.
His defence team, led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng from WongPartnership, also called singer-songwriter Corinne May and former nominated member of parliament Dr Gerard Ee as witnesses.
Lim faces six more charges involving four different women. He is fighting the allegations in four other trials.
The identities of all the women in his charges are protected by gag orders.
The most serious charge is for molesting a 25-year-old woman in his office in 2021. The trial in this case is ongoing before Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng.
The punishment for outraging a person’s modesty is up to two years in jail, which may come with a fine or caning.
