17 years’ jail for man who raped underage girl at staircase landing

SINGAPORE — They barely knew each other but days after getting acquainted with the 13-year-old online, the man sent her messages of a sexual nature.

About a month later, the then-21-year-old took her to a staircase landing at Clementi Mall and raped her, before making her perform another sexual act on him.

On Monday (Jan 28), Stanley Tee Ching Wei, now 23, was sentenced by the High Court to 17 years’ jail and given 14 strokes of the cane.

He pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape and another two counts of sexual assault by penetration of another 19-year-old.

Another 15 counts of similar offences — including charges for criminal intimidation and other sexual penetration charges — were taken into account during sentencing.

Both of Tee’s female victims cannot be named to protect their identities.

The court heard that Tee got to know his first victim, who was 13, through Instagram on Feb 16, 2017. They started chatting on Instagram and messaging application Line.

He learnt of her age and lied that he was 16.

He also began to send messages of a sexual nature, the court heard.

They first met in person on Feb 26, 2017 at Jurong East. On March 3 that year, he met up with her again and took her to a staircase landing at Clementi Mall.

They chatted initially, and then hugged and kissed each other. Tee then touched the girl’s private parts and sexually penetrated her with his finger.

After the first meeting, he continued to send sexually explicit messages to the teen, even though she was reluctant to have sex with him.

On March 19, 2017, they met again at Clementi Mall and he took her to a staircase landing.

There, he kissed and hugged her and began to touch her private parts. He then made her perform sexual acts on him before he raped her. He stopped after a few minutes and then repeated the same process.

He tried to ask her to lie down for the third time but she refused and began to cry. He then made her perform a sex act on him.

Subsequently, the teen spoke to a teacher about what had happened as she was afraid of getting pregnant, the court heard. The teen’s mother then took her to lodge a police report on March 27, 2017.

THREATENED SECOND VICTIM WITH PHOTOS

The court heard that in mid-April 2017, Tee reached out to his second victim, then a 19-year-old tertiary student, through dating application OkCupid.

During their conversations on Line, Tee began to send sexually explicit messages to the teen, asking if she wanted to have sex with him. She declined.

He then asked her for intimate photos and when she did not oblige, he pestered her.

She eventually gave in to his requests and sent him six photographs, some of which were photos of her topless. 

He threatened to disseminate her photos when she did not comply with his request to send more of such photos.

On May 7, 2017, he met her at Clementi Mall and led her to a stairwell at a nearby apartment block.

He instructed her to relax and began to kiss her. She pushed him away, but he “instructed her to open her mouth and stick out her tongue, and reminded her to be a ‘good girl’”, said Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) Ng Yiwen and Rebecca Wong.

He then attempted to touch her private parts, but she tried to resist.

He then said that he would delete the photos she sent him if she complied with his orders.

Despite her refusal, he forced her to perform various sexual acts while threatening her with the photos she had sent him.

Later that day, she sent him a text message saying that she did not want to meet him anymore.

“Angered by her response, (Tee) threatened to disseminate her photographs unless she agreed to be ‘friends with benefits’ with him,” said DPPs Ng and Wong.

“He also accused (her) of lying and betraying his trust.”

Turning desperate, the 19-year-old said she “would do anything as long as he did not disseminate (her) photographs”.

When he asked for more photos of her private parts, she confided in a friend and a police report was made.

‘RECALCITRANT SEX OFFENDER’

Calling Tee a “recalcitrant sex offender”, DPPs Ng and Wong urged the court to impose a sentence of at least 18 years and 14 strokes of the cane.

The prosecutors noted that while Tee might have been 21 at the time of the offence, “he was not any 21-year-old offender”. They pointed to Tee’s previous conviction — when he was 17 — of sexually penetrating a minor.

He was given 18 months’ probation, and barely one-and-a-half years after that, he reoffended, they said.

“(He) has not treasured the leniency that was previously shown to him,” they added.

The prosecution also charged that Tee had “sexually groomed” his 13-year-old victim for a period of time, “making her susceptible and compliant with his demands”.

Tee “has demonstrated a perverse desire to sexually violate pubescent young girls”, they said.

“He has shown no qualms about threatening (his second victim) to satiate his own perverse sexual desires.”

Tee’s lawyer, Mr Cheng Kim Kuan, said the 18-year sentence sought by the prosecution would have a crushing effect on his client. He asked for a lower sentence, asking the court to give weight to his client’s young age and his plea of guilt.

Judicial Commissioner Pang Kang Chau allowed Tee to commence his sentence on Feb 20.

For statutory rape, Tee could have been jailed for up to 20 years’ jail, fined and/or caned.