Girl, 14, raped by best friend's BF while her own BF held her down in Admiralty Park toilet

Selina Lum
The Straits Times
Oct 17, 2023

While he was on bail for a string of theft offences, a 16-year-old boy raped his 14-year-old schoolmate on the floor of a toilet at Admiralty Park, while her then-boyfriend held her down.

On Tuesday, the assailant, who is now 19, pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of rape.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of between eight and 10 years’ jail and between six and eight strokes of the cane.

Justice Pang Khang Chau adjourned sentencing to a later date after calling for a report to determine if the accused was suitable for reformative training.

The co-accused, now 25, faces multiple charges, including one for abetting the rape.

The duo cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon told the court that on June 27, 2020, the victim agreed to go drinking with her boyfriend, then 22, after he threatened to seek out other girls if she refused.

The couple headed for Admiralty Park with a bottle of whisky and set up a live stream of their drinking session at the playground.

The accused chanced upon the Instagram live stream and messaged the victim to ask if he could join their drinking session.

At the time, he had just argued with his girlfriend, who was the victim’s best friend.

By the time the accused arrived at the playground, the couple had consumed half the bottle.

Shortly after the victim drank the last of the alcohol, she threw up and lay down on the ground.

The boyfriend asked her to go to the nearby toilet to wash up, but she could not walk more than a few steps without falling over.

The accused then used his electric scooter to ferry the victim to the toilet, but she fell off the device on the way. The two then carried her to the handicapped toilet and dropped her on the floor.

She heard the door being locked and the two of them talking, while her boyfriend took off her jacket and T-shirt.

The accused then held the jacket over her face while the boyfriend carried out a sex act on her, which she did not object to.

The boyfriend then told the victim to lie down, and the accused put the jacket over her face again, as she cried out and struggled.

The boyfriend then moved to hold the victim down while the accused raped her.

The boyfriend then removed the jacket from the girl’s face and told her to wash up. After the accused went outside to wait, the victim asked her boyfriend why he did not save her.

In response, he blamed her for having sex with the accused, and they ended up quarrelling.

The victim eventually broke up with her boyfriend in September 2020.

The rape came to light after the accused started serving his sentence of at least a year of reformative training, after he pleaded guilty to eight charges of theft on Oct 4, 2020. Another 19 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. 

On Feb 17, 2021, the victim told her teacher about the assault. The next day, the school authorities informed the girl’s mother, who made a police report on Feb 23, 2021.