SINGAPORE: Two weeks after meeting on a dating app, Johnson Hong Siang Yeu invited a 17-year-old girl to his place to learn how to play the guitar.
The girl had come to see Hong as a trusted friend by that time, confiding in him about her past relationships, family troubles and personal struggles.
Hong, then 20, in turn told her that she was “just like a little sister” to him and would often comfort her.
However, on the night she was at his home in May 2020, he raped her on his bed while urging her to “trust him”.
Hong, now 22, was sentenced to seven years’ jail and four strokes of the cane on Tuesday (Apr 19) after pleading guilty to one charge of rape.
He was also fined S$2,000 after admitting to violating COVID-19 rules to meet the victim without a legitimate purpose.
The identity of the victim, now 19, is protected by gag order. She was a student when the incident happened.
“KEEP THIS BETWEEN OURSELVES”
The court heard that Hong and the victim met on a dating app towards the end of April 2020.
However, the victim told Hong at the outset that she was not looking to date anyone she met on the platform.
He acknowledged her wishes and they built a rapport, chatting on a daily basis.
On May 9, 2020, Hong invited the victim to his place, offering to teach her how to play the guitar.
She agreed to meet him at a staircase landing outside his flat rather than inside, as she wanted to keep things friendly between them, and arrived at around 1.20am.
About an hour later, Hong suggested moving to his bedroom to use the air-conditioner. The victim agreed as she was feeling sweaty.
In the room, she sat at a corner of Hong’s mattress to use her phone, while he used his laptop.
At some point, Hong offered to give the victim a back massage, which lasted for a few minutes. After the massage, the victim fell asleep on the mattress.
“The sight of the victim sound asleep aroused the accused, who proceeded to hug her from the back while she was asleep,” stated court documents.
He then pulled her shorts aside and molested her. The victim jolted awake and told Hong to stop while shoving his hand away.
Hong did not stop and instead sexually assaulted her for 10 to 15 seconds while covering her mouth and telling her to “trust him”. He then proceeded to rape her.
Throughout this ordeal, the victim struggled to push Hong off as he was pressed against her, and cried and pleaded with him to stop.
Hong stopped after a few minutes and apologised to the victim. She continued to cry while facing a wall, before leaving his bedroom to use the toilet.
She eventually left Hong’s flat at around 4.15am in a private-hire vehicle.
Hong apologised to the victim in a text message at about 5am that morning. He told her: “Hope we can keep this between ourselves and forget about this.”
The victim told a friend that she had been raped by Hong but was hesitant about making a police report as she was afraid of how her parents would react.
She eventually made a police report on May 11, 2020 at the insistence of her friend.
ABUSE OF TRUST
Deputy Public Prosecutors Yeow Xuan and Nicholas Lim sought the sentence that was imposed for the rape offence, citing Hong’s abuse of the trust placed in him by the victim.
The victim had laid down clear boundaries between herself and Hong on multiple occasions, said the prosecutors.
“She placed significant trust in the accused’s assurances that they were just friends and was willing to follow him to his home on the night of the offences despite her clear reservations,” they said.
“In turn, he utterly betrayed the faith reposed in him by making advances on her while she was asleep.”
They also sought a S$3,500 fine for his breach of COVID-19 rules in place at the time.
Defence lawyer Joshua Tong asked for six years’ jail and three strokes of the cane for the rape offence, and a S$1,000 fine for the COVID-19 rules violation.
He argued that there was no abuse of trust as Hong and the victim had only known each other for two weeks at the time of the offence.
He contended that it was an “overstatement” to say that they were friends, and that the victim had not laid clear boundaries with Hong.
“While the crime was serious, this was a momentary lapse and a moment of folly,” said Mr Tong, asking the court to exercise mercy as his client was a young, first-time offender.
In sentencing, District Judge Kok Shu En agreed with the prosecution that there was an abuse of trust.
While the victim had not known Hong for long, she trusted him enough to go to his house to learn to play the guitar and even fall asleep there, said the judge.
Those found guilty of rape can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
The penalty for violating COVID-19 control orders is up to six months’ jail, a fine of up to S$10,000 or both.
