Scout master: ‘I did not molest the girls’

The 44-year-old man cries during a press conference, claiming he is innocent of the allegations.

PETALING JAYA: The scout master who was accused of molesting several teenage girls of a school in Sri Damansara here denied having committed the alleged offences.

The 44-year-old man who wants to be known only as “Mr Ho” (picture, left) broke down during a press conference, saying that he had done nothing wrong.

“Why did the media even said I raped my own daughter? That’s too much, really too much,” he said, referring to a report in a Chinese newpaper.

Also present at the conference was MCA lawyer Theng Book. Ho was also accompanied by his wife, two daughters, a son and a large group of his scout friends and former students.

Ho, who holds the rank of King Scout, was a volunteer trainer at the scout club of the Sri Damansara school.

“I have done so much just to cultivate future leaders of the country. Do you know all this? Why must you do this to me? What did I do wrong?” he said, and cried openly.

Ho was asked by reporters about allegations that he had molested the Form 2 girls last year once at the storeroom and another time during a rock-climbing exercise at his house.

But he repeatedly said, “I did no such things.”

He also denied reports that he had asked the girls to take off their clothes or fondled them.

Ho even demonstrated how he would put a harness on the girls for the rock-climbing exercise on one of his daughters.

‘My students respect me’

Standing beside Ho, Theng pointed out that “if this is considered molest, then you (the parents of the victims) shouldn’t have asked your daughters to do such sports.”

Theng, who is a legal adviser for MCA public services and complaint department, then asked Ho: “So if the girl had larger breasts, you may have accidentally brushed against them?” Ho nodded, saying, “Yes”.

Ho also recounted how he was slapped, punched, and kicked by one parent when some of the parents confronted him last week.

“After I was beaten I fell. I later went to the Selayang Hospital and the next day I went to the police station. My daughters followed me and saw their father being brought away in handcuffs,” he said.

Asked repeatedly why so many students had made the allegations against him, he said he did not know. “My students respect me.”

Ho, who has a full-time job but declined to reveal his occupation, said he worked without salary at the Sri Damansara school.

Meanwhile, Ho’s two daughters, who are also studying in the same school, said they did not go to school today.

They said their father would not have done such things and strongly denied the allegation that he had sexually assaulted them too.

‘We have our dignity’

Ho’s wife added: “Knowing him for 20 over years, I will support him. He would never do such things… it’s not true at all. He is a very responsible man, and fights for justice. He wished to bring up more future leaders.”

“We are very hurt. We have our dignity, but why are these people, who may not have communicated with their daughters properly, saying these things about us?” she said.

Meanwhile, Theng said that if Ho is found guilty, he should be punished, but if he is innocent, he needs to be duly recognised.

“Leave it to the police’ don’t disturb this family for now. Also, I’m wondering why the girls took so long to lodge a report.

“But this press conference is just for him to explain his side of the story,” Theng said.

Last week, five Form Two girls, with their parents, lodged a police report against Ho. They claimed he molested them on the pretext of helping them get body measurements for clothes in a club storeroom.

He also allegedly molested them when they were at his home practising rock-climbing exercise.

It is understood that at least five more girls have made also similar allegations against Ho.