Doctor sexually exploited 14-year-old girl, recorded women doing private acts without their consent

Samuel Devaraj
The Straits Times
February 1, 2023

A doctor was charged with sexual exploitation of a child and other multiple offences on Wednesday, including voyeurism, cheating and traffic violations.

Lim Yong Chin, 39, founder and director of the Access Medical Clinics group, had, between March and April in 2021, allegedly touched a 14-year-old girl inappropriately. He allegedly repeated the act in April that year.

That same month, at an HDB unit in Bedok Reservoir Road, he allegedly sexually violated her and made her perform oral sex on him.

Between 2020 and 2021, he also allegedly recorded two women aged between 18 and 19 doing a private act without their consent.

Between July 10, 2018, and early 2019, Lim also allegedly recorded a video of a 19-year-old woman, which showed her in underwear doing an intimate act with him, without her consent.

The police said on Wednesday that Lim, who faces 28 charges in total, was also accused of cheating the National Healthcare Group Polyclinics and SingHealth Polyclinics into disbursing Community Health Assist Scheme (Chas) subsidies for fictitious claims.

He also allegedly drove while under suspension and without insurance.

In 2018, the Ministry of Health (MOH) suspended 10 Access Medical clinics from Chas for severe non-compliance.

The clinics, which are all under the Access Medical group, had made numerous non-compliant Chas claims such as those for patient visits or chronic conditions with no relevant supporting documentation. These were revealed following audits by MOH on the Chas claims.

The police said they take a serious view against anyone who engages in fraudulent or dishonest conduct to obtain funding from the Government. “The police also take a tough stance against sexual crimes, particularly those that target vulnerable victims, especially the young.”

In court, Lim’s lawyer asked for his identity to not be disclosed as it might lead to identification of the alleged victims.

After the prosecution said it was applying for a gag order only for the victims’ identities, District Judge Terence Tay rejected the application by Lim’s lawyer, saying no reasons for his gag order had been given.

Lim will return to court on March 15.