An Ellicott City man who pleaded guilty to groping five women was sentenced to six years in prison last week on assault and sex offense charges.
Jeremy Kaho Ng, 27, of the 10000 block of Whitworth Way, was sentenced in connection to five incidents that occurred between January 2013 and July 2014. He pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree assault and two counts of fourth-degree sex offense.
At his sentencing hearing Jan. 16, Howard County Circuit Court Judge Lenore Gelfman sentenced him to 32 years in prison, with all but six years suspended, according to State's Attorney spokesman Wayne Kirwan.
Kirwan said Gelfman admonished Ng and said the gropings took away the women's "peace of mind, confidence and ability to function…without looking over their shoulder."
Ng's defense attorney said he suffered from "an impulse control issue," Kirwan said.
Upon his release, Ng will be placed on five years' probation and will have to register as a Tier I sex offender, Kirwan said. He will also have to abstain from alcohol and drugs, and undergo mental health and sex offender evaluation and treatment, Kirwan said.
Kirwan said Ng addressed the court and apologized to the victims and their families, stating: "I can't fathom the fear and anger they experienced. I never meant to hurt anyone."
Ng was first arrested and charged on Jan. 6, 2014, when he allegedly grabbed a woman between her legs as she walked into her apartment in the 5000 block of Columbia Road in Columbia.
The woman screamed and her friend, an off-duty police officer who was inside the apartment, chased down Ng and held him until officers arrived, according to Howard County police.
After his arrest, police tied Ng to another case in the parking lot of the Best Buy store in Columbia on May 23, 2013, where a man groped a victim under her skirt as she was getting into her car. Police reviewed security footage and were able to identify Ng following the victim through the store and into the parking lot, police said.
According to police, Ng was charged in a third case, Jan. 10, 2013, that took place in the parking lot of The Mall in Columbia, when another victim reported being groped in a similar way.
Ng pleaded guilty in those three cases on July 15, but was released on bond until his sentencing, which was scheduled for August.
Two days later, Ng was arrested after he allegedly groped a woman at a Target in the 6100 block of Dobbin Road in Columbia. A woman approached a nearby police officer, who was in the area on an unrelated call, and reported a man was following her and grabbed her buttocks.
She identified the man as Ng, and he was arrested.
A fifth woman came forward and reported she was stalked and assaulted on July 5 at a HomeGoods on Snowden River Parkway in Columbia. Ng pleaded guilty to both counts on Friday morning.