Cops who played role in finding abused teen help Clementi division snag record win

All the police officers had to go on in 2022 was an online post of a teenage boy, who has low IQ, being held and abused in a hotel room.

- Kyleen Cabael

His younger sister had called the police on Jan 25 that year after seeing a photo on social media of her brother, then 19, being assaulted.

Assistant Superintendent Andrew Koh and his team from Clementi Police Division were among the 50-plus officers who worked overnight, canvassing more than 10 hotels near the teen's last known location to find and rescue him.

ASP Koh said he remembers how stressful it was in their race against time to find the youth, whose sister told the police he had not been home for two weeks.

"I felt a sense of pressure. We were not sure if the person was still alive," he told The Straits Times.

"We will never know until we exhaust the leads. Each hotel checked and cleared meant we were one step closer to saving the victim," added ASP Koh, who was attached to Clementi from 2020 to early 2023. He was posted to Jurong Police Division in April 2023.