Man jailed, fined for filming unconscious woman being raped in Downtown East chalet

SINGAPORE — He knew the woman had passed out, but did nothing to help when two of his friends began raping and sexually assaulting her in a room at a Downtown East chalet last year.

Instead, Gan Soon Chai decided to film them on his mobile phone. When the other men noticed what he was doing about three minutes later, he stopped on their request.

After Gan’s arrest, the authorities found in his phone the footage of the rape, 65 obscene videos as well as eight videos that were without valid certificates from the Board of Film Censors.

On Tuesday (Aug 13), Gan, a 34-year-old Malaysian, was sentenced to one year and three months’ jail and a fine of S$20,800. If he is unable to pay the fine, he has to serve another three months and four days behind bars.

He pleaded guilty to one count of making an obscene film, and two other charges under the Films Act for possessing the videos.

District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong told him during sentencing: “It was an abominable act — filming a woman being raped.”

The 24-year-old victim cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.

Gan had given his own mitigation plea through a Chinese interpreter, saying that he would “never do something so foolish again” and pleading for a lighter sentence.

The court heard that at the time of the incident in September last year, Gan was working as a cashier at Club V5 Tycoon, located at Ming Arcade near the junction of Orchard Road and Cuscaden Road.

Tay had booked a chalet room in D’Resort at Downtown East on Sept 17 and 18 for his friends from the club to enjoy themselves.

They included Yong Chun Hong, 30, who worked at Club V5 Tycoon as a manager and bouncer; Yeo We Chieng, 40; and Tay Boon Huat, 27. The professions of Yeo and Tay are not known.

After midnight on Sept 17, the four men drove to the nightclub to work or drink. When the club closed its doors at about 7am, Gan wanted to head home, but Yeo and Tay persuaded him to return to the chalet with them.

Yeo drove them in his car to Forum The Shopping Mall, where Yap Chun Chieh was waiting at the drop-off point with the victim. 

Yap, now 39, was also working as a manager and bouncer at the club, while the victim was a club patron.

Yong got down from the car and persuaded Yap to join them, pulling the victim by the arm to get her into the car. They then made their way to Downtown East. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Zu Zhao told the court that while they were in the car, Tay — who was sitting in the front passenger seat — stretched his hand back and touched her breasts. Yap and Yong followed suit.

Gan noticed then that the victim appeared to be unconscious. 

FILMING THE ASSAULT SECRETLY

They got to the chalet room at about 7.30am, where Yap helped the unconscious victim onto one of the two queen-sized beds.

A while later, Yong and Yeo returned to the room from buying food at a nearby convenience store. Yeo fell asleep on the second bed, before Tay began to sexually assault the victim.

Yong also touched her, then went out to the outdoor barbecue area to eat his food.

DPP Lee said that at this point, Yap started raping the victim. Tay also tried to force her to perform a sex act on him even though she was still unconscious and unresponsive.

As Gan lay on the other bed and watched what the other men were doing, he began secretly taking a video of the assault. He stopped doing so when Tay noticed him.

Shortly after, Tay took the victim into the bathroom and closed the door. It is not stated in court what happened in there.

Gan then went out to the barbecue area and showed Yong a portion of the video. When Tay joined them about 15 minutes later, he tried to delete the video from Gan’s phone, though they did not know then that Tay had failed.

The three men then went back into the room.

At about 9am, Yap got dressed and helped the victim to do the same, before calling for a taxi to take her home.

Gan was arrested about a week later on Sept 26, 2018, after the victim made a police report. 

Yap and Tay now face charges in the High Court, while Yong is charged with using criminal force to molest the victim in the car. Their cases are pending before the courts.

For making an obscene film, Gan could have been jailed up to two years, or fined up to S$40,000, or both.