SINGAPORE, Feb 1 — A group of five men took a drunk, unconscious woman back to their chalet room more than two years ago and preyed on her there, with one of them raping her.
While Yap Chun Chieh violated her, another man sexually assaulted her and a third man filmed the act on his mobile phone.
Yap later took the woman, then 24, to a hotel to sleep as she could not be roused, molesting her further there.
She later confronted him and he apologised.
But the deed was done — she reported him and his friends to the police and they were arrested.
Today, Yap, 40, pleaded guilty in the High Court to one charge each of rape and molestation. Another charge of molesting the victim in a car will be taken into consideration during sentencing.
The victim cannot be named because of a court order to protect her identity.
At the time of the incident in September 2018, Yap worked as a manager and bouncer at Club V5 Tycoon at Ming Arcade near the junction of Orchard Road and Cuscaden Road.
One of the men in his group, Tay Boon Huat, now 28, had booked a chalet room in D’Resort at Downtown East on Sept 17 and 18 that year for his friends from the nightclub.
They included Yap; Yong Chun Hong, now 31, also a manager and bouncer at Club V5 Tycoon; Gan Soon Chai, a cashier at the club; and Yeo We Chieng, now 42.
The professions of Tay and Yeo are not known.
Gan, now 35, a Malaysian who filmed the sexual assault at the chalet, was jailed one year and three months and fined S$20,800 in 2019.
Tay was given 10 years and three months in jail and five strokes of the cane, while Yong’s case is still pending. Yeo was not prosecuted.
How it began
After midnight on Sept 17, 2018, all five men went to the nightclub to work or drink.
The victim’s friends got into a drunken dispute outside the club with another group and left when the dispute was resolved, leaving her behind.
She then drank more at Club V5 with Tay, Yong and Yeo.
At about 6am, Yong took her to a women’s toilet, followed by a men’s toilet in the building.
He spent about 15 minutes alone with her behind closed doors. Court documents did not reveal what happened, but she could not walk on her own by then.
The club closed its doors at about 7am and the men decided to return to the chalet.
Yong told Yap to take the victim home by taxi, and Yap booked a vehicle on ride-hailing service Grab for her.
Later, when Yeo drove to the taxi stand in his own car with Yong, Tay and Gan in the vehicle, they spotted Yap and the woman there. Yong persuaded Yap to join them at the chalet. Yong also pulled the victim by the arm into the car.
While they were in the car, Tay, who was in the front passenger seat, stretched his hand back and touched her breasts.
Yap and Yong followed suit.
‘What are you waiting for?’
They got to the chalet around 7.30am, where Yap helped the unconscious victim onto one of the two queen-sized beds in the room.
Yong and Tay told Yap something to the effect of: “The woman is already lying here and you still are not having sex with her. What are you waiting for?”
Shortly after, Tay molested the victim and undressed her. Yong also touched her before moving to the outdoor barbecue area.
Encouraged by his friends, Yap undressed and raped the still-unconscious woman. He did not use a condom.
Tay also sexually assaulted her while Gan furtively filmed the assault as he laid on the other bed. He stopped when Tay noticed him.
Gan later showed Tay a portion of the video. Tay tried to delete it from Gan’s phone but unknowingly failed to do so.
At about 9am, Yap got dressed and helped the victim to do likewise, before calling for a taxi to take her home.
She could not be woken up when they reached her home, so Yap decided to take her to the nearest hotel — Hotel 81 Premier Star at Geylang — to sleep. He molested her again when he realised she was still asleep.
Confronted Yap a week later
The woman regained consciousness at about 7pm and was startled to find herself sleeping next to a stranger. She also realised her underwear was out of place.
She and Yap left the hotel together after she paid S$70 for the stay. They went their separate ways.
Even though she knew something had happened to her, she did not report it to the police immediately because she felt depressed and did not know what to do.
Later that night, she met a friend at Club V5 to discuss what had happened and saw Yap. Wanting to forget the matter, she did not confront him.
She did so a week later at Club V5 when she returned with friends to drink. He admitted to the men’s offences, saying that he was sorry and insisting nothing had happened in the Hotel 81 room.
She later confided in her mother, who encouraged her to make a police report.
For rape, Yap could face up to 20 years behind bars and be fined or caned. For molestation, he could be jailed up to two years, fined or caned, or receive any combination of the three.
Yap will return to court on Feb 26. — TODAY
