Ex-club bouncer gets jail and caning for molesting woman who was later raped by his colleague

SINGAPORE: A former club bouncer who joined a group of men in taking advantage of a severely intoxicated woman was sentenced to jail and caning on Monday (Feb 21).

The woman, then 24, was groped and filmed by multiple men before being raped in a room at D'Resort @ Downtown East in September 2018.

Yong Chun Hong, 32, was sentenced to eight months' jail and two strokes of the cane for one count of outraging the victim's modesty. He had molested her in the car on the way to the chalet.

The court heard that the victim was at Club V5 in Ming Arcade along Cuscaden Road at about 3.35am on Sep 17, 2018, with some friends. She drank more alcohol at the club, but her friends left her behind after resolving a drunken dispute with another group of clubgoers at about 5.20am.

The victim continued drinking alcohol with Yong, as well as his co-accused Tay Boon Huat, 29.

At about 6am, Yong took the victim to the women's toilet. She could not walk on her own. After this, he took her to the men's toilet, where he spent about 15 minutes alone with her behind closed doors. Court documents do not specify what happened in the toilet during this time.

At about 6.35am, Yong took the victim down to the first floor of Ming Arcade and passed her to co-accused Yap Chun Chieh, a fellow manager and bouncer at Club V5.

He asked Yap to take the victim home in a cab. 

At around 7am, after Club V5 closed, Yong and a few of his co-accused boarded a car intending to return to a chalet they had booked at D'Resort @ Downtown East.

They spotted Yap and the victim still at the taxi stand. Yong persuaded Yap to join them at the chalet, before alighting from the car and pulling the heavily intoxicated victim by her arm into the car.

A total of six people including Yong, Yap and the victim set off in the vehicle towards the chalet.

The victim was unconscious throughout the journey. She was molested by three different men on the way, including Yong, who squeezed her breast once.

In the chalet, Yap raped the victim while Tay performed a sex act on her and a third man, Gan Soon Chai, filmed the assault on his phone.

The prosecution called for at least nine months' jail and three strokes of the cane for Yong, saying that the victim was vulnerable due to her severe intoxication.

The offence was also part of a group assault, they said.

Of the co-accused, Yap was sentenced in March 2021 to 12 years and three months' jail and 10 strokes of the cane, while Gan was jailed for a year and three months and fined S$20,800. Tay was given 10 years and three months' jail and five strokes of the cane in August 2020.

Editor’s note: Mention of a co-accused person has been removed from the story as he was not charged for any offences and was listed in court documents as an involved party.