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Satay seller Samion Noordin has had three brushes with the law for sex crimes against minors. Twice, he was let off, presumably for lack of evidence.
The third time, the 47-year-old father of five was finally nailed. Late last month, he pleaded guilty to molesting a nine-year old in Holland Road. He was sentenced to 15 months' jail and six strokes of the cane last Thursday.
In 2000, he was acquitted of charges of repeatedly raping a teen who was related to him.
Five years later, he was arrested on charges of molesting an eight-year-old girl. But the charges were dropped and he was let off with a stern warning.
The same charge - this time from another nine-year-old - was levelled against him last year leading to Thursday's conviction.
Samion's case makes one wonder how many more sex fiends are there who are free just because their crimes cannot be proved?
Very few children who are sexually abused can navigate the jungle of shame and adversity to actually report their attackers.?
Just the act of speaking out is gut-wrenching. Repeating their experiences to separate teams of professionals - the police, doctors, social workers and counsellors - makes them relive the trauma over and over again.
If the case goes to trial, the cross examiner's standard attempt to discredit their testimony is a final, often brutal, test of grit.
When it boils down to deciding whom to believe - the accused or the victim - the victim usually loses out because he or she may be too traumatised to recount accurately the experiences in court.
Given how vulnerable children are - both to habitual sex predators and to crumbling under cross examination - are there ways to protect them more?
For a start, existing programmes could be beefed up.
Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.
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