On 27 May 2025, the mother of the underage victim involved in the sexual assault case against former Mediacorp actor Ian Fang publicly expressed her disappointment over the criminal sentence handed down to the 34-year-old. Ian Fang was sentenced to 40 months in prison for sexually assaulting her daughter, but the family believes this punishment is insufficient given the seriousness of the offence.
The incident took place in 2021 when Fang allegedly took advantage of the young girl during a time she was suffering from health issues. According to the victim’s mother, Fang used his celebrity status to exploit her daughter, an act she described as predatory and manipulative. The mother highlighted that the trauma left behind has had a significant and lasting impact on the victim’s emotional and mental health.
While the court has already sentenced Fang to 40 months in jail, the victim’s family has announced plans to pursue a civil lawsuit against him. The mother stated that the legal action was not motivated by financial compensation, but by the desire to seek accountability and justice beyond what the criminal system has delivered. She further committed to donating any compensation awarded from the civil suit to charity.
In her statement, the mother was especially critical of the absence of caning in Fang’s sentence. She expressed strong views that such a serious sexual offence, particularly involving a minor, warranted harsher corporal punishment. She argued that the lack of such punishment allowed Fang to escape without a lifelong mark of his crime, potentially allowing him to re-enter society without sufficient consequence or deterrent.
She also called for a formal review of the case, encouraging the authorities to explore whether further charges could be pursued that would make caning legally applicable. According to her, this was not just about one individual case, but about setting a precedent for how similar offences involving minors are dealt with in the Singaporean legal system.
Public reaction to her comments has been mixed but largely sympathetic. Many have echoed her sentiments about the perceived leniency in sentences for sexual crimes involving minors. The case has reignited public debate on whether Singapore’s criminal penalties are sufficient to serve justice in sensitive and serious cases such as this.
From a legal perspective, pursuing a civil suit allows the victim’s family to address aspects of harm not fully captured in the criminal proceedings, such as long-term emotional distress, psychological damage, and loss of well-being. Civil court proceedings can offer a form of closure or redress that the criminal system does not always provide, especially in cases where the sentence is seen as light.
Meanwhile, the mother’s statement emphasized that her daughter continues to struggle with the emotional aftermath of the incident. She hopes the civil case will allow the public to hear the victim’s voice more clearly and bring attention to the broader issue of how celebrities or individuals with influence can abuse their power without facing proportionate consequences.
No further dates have yet been set for the civil proceedings. However, the family’s legal counsel is expected to initiate the process in the coming weeks.
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