Man sexually assaulted drunken male friend who 'crashed' at his place after night of drinking

Selina Lum
The Straits Times
July 3, 2023

After a night of pub-crawling with a 20-year-old man he befriended only weeks earlier, a 40-year-old man agreed to let the younger man “crash”, or sleep, at his place.

But after the younger man fell asleep on the floor of his bedroom, Jeffrey Pe sexually assaulted his intoxicated friend. The victim had to push him off to get away.

On Monday, Pe, now 45, was sentenced to 10 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane by the High Court. He was found guilty in April on three counts of sexual assault by penetration.

Pe had contested the charges in a trial that began in September 2022, denying some of the acts and contending that the victim had consented to the other acts.

He claimed that the victim was open to exploring his sexuality and was romantically interested in him.

But Justice Mavis Chionh rejected his defence. She found that the victim was intoxicated after a night of drinking and incapable of consenting to the sexual acts performed on him by Pe.

The judge found that Pe was a disingenuous witness whose claims were not borne out by objective evidence.

On the other hand, she found the younger man’s testimony to be unusually convincing. She also noted his state of emotional distress from the audio recordings of the calls he made to the police after the assault.

In sentencing on Monday, Justice Chionh said an aggravating factor in the case was the harm caused to the victim, who was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder with possible post-traumatic stress symptoms. 

The two men first met at a pub on July 23, 2017.

The victim, who had just broken up with his long-time girlfriend, was interested in a woman at the pub and decided to befriend Pe, who appeared to be connected to her.

Pe invited the victim to his birthday party on July 29, 2017, and the duo exchanged mobile phone numbers.

Both began to chat on WhatsApp, talking about women and about Pe’s upcoming party.

On the day of the party, the victim brought a few of his friends along but had minimal interaction with Pe.

In the early hours of Aug 6, 2017, Pe invited the victim to his home for drinks, but the meeting fell through.

The duo subsequently met on Aug 8, 2017 for a night of drinks. When the victim asked Pe whether he could “crash” at the accused’s place, the older man agreed.

There, Pe gave the younger man an alcoholic drink, and the victim fell asleep on the floor of the bedroom in his own clothes.

He woke up sometime later to find the accused performing oral sex on him. As the victim drifted in and out of consciousness, Pe continued to sexually assault him.

After he pushed Pe away, the victim washed himself in the toilet, as he felt disgusted with what the accused had done to him. He then left the unit and called a friend, who advised him to call the police.

Pe is appealing against his conviction and sentence and is out on $80,000 bail.