Man sexually stimulated himself after groping sister's best friend in chalet room as family slept

Taking advantage of her drowsy and tipsy state, a 26-year-old man groped his female friend during a stay over at a chalet in Pasir Ris.

He was sentenced to one year and six months’ jail, as well as four strokes of the cane on Wednesday (July 18) after pleading guilty back in June to the outrage of the victim’s modesty, reports The Straits Times. 

The man cannot be named as a gag order has been imposed to protect the identity of the victim. 

During the time of the incident, the man’s three siblings and their father were sound asleep in the room in addition to the man and the 25-year-old victim.

The court heard that the victim was the best friend of the man’s sister and had gone to D'Resort @ Downtown East with her boyfriend on July 30, 2016. 

The woman went to a room the family had booked to rest after consuming some alcohol. She was half-asleep when she felt someone touching her body from the back. 

Thinking that it was her boyfriend, she paid no heed. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail Wong said that the woman later spotted the man’s shadow as he was heading to the toilet. She got up to open the toilet door and discovered that the man was sexually stimulating himself. 

She quickly closed the door and waited for him outside the toilet where she confronted him a few minutes later. When she asked him what he had done, the man told her, “nothing”.

He then left the room.

The woman later came across police officers who were attending to an unrelated dispute nearby and told them about the molest. The man was subsequently arrested.

DPP Wong said:

“The victim felt outraged and distressed by the accused's actions. She had viewed the accused like an older brother before the offence.”

She also urged District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam to impose a jail term of one year and six months, as well as four strokes of the cane. 

DPP Wong added that the man had taken advantage of the woman’s condition to molest her:

“ It was easier for the accused to take advantage of the victim's half-sleeping state and the victim would have been in less of a condition to resist any sexual assault.”

For the outrage of modesty, the man could have been jailed up to two years and fined or caned.