In a Nov. 19 statement, the archdiocese said that 57-year-old Zebedee Rex Fernando was removed from employment, the Straits Times reported on Nov. 20.
“Given the serious nature of the charge, Mr. Rex Fernando has been suspended from his employment until this matter is concluded,” an archdiocesan spokesperson said.
The offense was allegedly committed in 2004. The archdiocese stated that Fernando informed his workplace superiors about the court case on Nov. 11.
Fernando was handed the molestation charge on Nov 14, but court documents did not disclose why it took 20 years for him to be hauled to court over the alleged offense, the Straits Times reported.
In November 2022, Fernando was appointed to the Board of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Tamil-speaking community as its treasurer for a two-year term, the report said, quoting a notice from the Chancery.
The archdiocesan spokesperson asserted that the archdiocese has a zero-tolerance policy toward any form of harm or exploitation, particularly against children and the vulnerable.
“We condemn such actions unequivocally,” the statement added.
The spokesperson refused to comment further because the case was before the courts.
Fernando had in 2004 allegedly tried to molest a 12-year-old girl in a Housing Board flat in Singapore.
The court has issued a gag order to protect the victim’s identity, the Straits Times reported.
If convicted, an accused typically faces a jail term of up to five years, fines, caning, or a combination of such punishments.
Fernando will be exempted from caning as he is over 50 years old.
The court set the next hearing of the case for Dec. 12.