Man on trial for allegedly raping, sexually abusing 13-year-old girl over two years

SINGAPORE — A 59-year-old man accused of multiple counts of raping and sexually abusing a 13-year-old student he was coaching in skipping rope started his trial in a High Court on Tuesday (Nov 21).

Roger Yue Jr faces a total of 48 charges of various sexual offences spanning over two years against the teenage girl, who cannot be named due to a court order.

The prosecution is proceeding with seven of these charges, which allegedly took place when the victim — now aged 22 — was only 13. Two of the charges involved statutory rape, while the other five were for sexual penetration of a minor, which involved the use of objects such as a vibrator and the handle of a skipping rope.

The remaining charges have been stood down for the time being.

At the start of the trial on Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Lai told the court that the victim became acquainted with Yue in 2005, after he was appointed to coach her primary school’s skipping rope team. The school cannot be named, to protect her identity.

Yue later invited the girl to join his competitive skipping rope team, and enlisted her help to coach other skipping rope teams from several schools.

DPP Lai said that from late 2008 towards the end of 2010, Yue allegedly committed a string of sexual offences, with some of them taking place at his now-defunct studio, in an unspecified school, and at his home, where the victim was allegedly raped.

The alleged sexual assault stopped after the victim distanced herself from Yue. She later confided in her polytechnic lecturer and counsellor about those incidents and lodged a police report on April 28, 2014.

The victim testified in court behind closed doors on the first day of the trial. She will continue to take the stand on Wednesday.