SINGAPORE — A 20-year-old youth who raped his schoolmate in a toilet at Admiralty Park, while her then boyfriend held her down, was sentenced to undergo reformative training for at least a year on Jan 22.
The incident took place in June 2020 when he was 16 years old, the girl 14, and her boyfriend 22.
He pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of rape on Oct 17, 2023, and a report was called to determine if he was suitable for reformative training.
On Jan 22, Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon told the court that the youth was found suitable for reformative training, which is a regimen where young offenders are detained in a centre and put through rehabilitation programmes.
Nonetheless, DPP Poon pressed for a sentence of between eight and 10 years' jail, and between six and eight strokes of the cane.
She argued that, in the reformative training report, the youth sought to justify his actions and minimise his responsibility by putting the blame not only on the co-accused but also the victim.
According to the prosecutor, the youth said he had been "forced" by the co-accused, who was older and physically larger, to rape the victim, and that the victim had enjoyed the act.
But Justice Pang Khang Chau said he did not think rehabilitation has been displaced as the main sentencing consideration in the present case.
Rape was a serious offence, but the overall seriousness of offending in the present case was not at the extreme high end, said the judge.
He noted that there was no premeditation, and that the rape was the result of instigation by the victim's boyfriend.
The judge added that "certain defects" in the youth's attitude and thinking, reflected in the report, indicated that he should be rehabilitated.
Speaking directly to the young man, Justice Pang reminded him that this was his last chance and urged him to live as a lawful citizen after his release.
The co-accused, who faces charges over abetting the rape and sexual assault, is being dealt with separately.
The victim had agreed to go drinking with her boyfriend on June 27, 2020, 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 a playground.
The youth chanced upon the live stream and messaged the victim to ask if he could join them. At the time, he had just argued with his girlfriend, who was the victim's best friend.
After the victim threw up and lay down on the ground, the youth and the girl's boyfriend carried her to a toilet for the handicapped.
Her boyfriend took off her jacket and T-shirt, and the accused held the jacket over her face while the boyfriend carried out a sex act on her.
The boyfriend then moved to hold the victim down while the accused raped her.
After the assault, she asked her boyfriend why he had not saved 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.
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.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.