Man, 68, jailed 19½ years for raping maid

A 68-year-old man who raped a domestic worker in 2020 while his family was overseas was sentenced to 19½ years’ jail on Jan 24.

The assault was partially captured by CCTV cameras in the flat, which showed the man’s actions, such as his movements and the positioning of his body, while the woman was in an unresponsive state.

Prosecutors accused the man of committing various sexual offences against the helper, who was then 35 years old, after he offered her wine and “supplement injections”, which she accepted.

The man cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the woman’s identity.

He had contested five charges in a High Court trial that began in July 2024. He denied committing the acts alleged in the charges.

In November 2024, Justice Mavis Chionh found him guilty of two charges of rape and two charges of outrage of modesty, but acquitted him of a charge of sexual assault by penetration.

The man represented himself during the trial.

On Jan 24, after he was told by the judge that he had the right to appeal against the conviction and sentence if he wished to do so, the man said he intended to hire a lawyer for his appeal.

His existing bail of $80,000 was extended pending his appeal.

Earlier during the court session, the man said he had used generative artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to search for cases, after the judge asked him for the source of the cases cited in his written submissions.

The judge told him that the cases he referred to did not exist and that ChatGPT is not a legal research tool.

The domestic worker was employed by one of the man’s two daughters.

The assault took place between 11.50pm on Jan 5, 2020, and 12.15am on Jan 6, 2020.

Prosecutors said the man invited the woman to watch TV with him and offered her wine to drink. He then offered her certain supplement injections, which she accepted.

After giving her the injections on a sofa in the living room, he sexually assaulted her.

The victim did not consent to any of the sexual acts, but was unable to resist the man, as she was feeling too giddy and weak from what she had consumed.

Prosecutors said the man carried the maid back to her room and placed her on her bed.

Footage from the camera in her bedroom showed that before the injections, the man had deliberately shifted that camera to face away from her bed. This indicated that he had already formed the intention to commit sexual acts against the victim, said the prosecution.

It is unclear what he had injected her with.

In the early hours of Jan 6, the distraught woman called her sister. 

The helper eventually told the man’s daughters about the offences after they returned to the flat on the night of Jan 8, 2020.

The following day, she was taken to a police station to lodge a report and then to the National University Hospital for a medical examination.

In November 2024, when convicting the man of the four charges, Justice Chionh said the complainant’s testimony was corroborated by the CCTV footage and the man’s own admissions.

While the CCTV recording did not provide explicit visual confirmation of the rape, his repeated motions and the positioning of his body supported the complainant’s evidence that she was raped.

The man also made a clear admission of penetration during his video-recorded interviews.

The judge rejected the man’s allegation that the helper had falsely implicated him either because of her hatred of his daughter or her plan to obtain monetary compensation.

The daughter, whom the man called as a witness, conceded that the helper did not make any express demands for money, the judge noted.

Justice Chionh also rejected the man’s allegation that, prior to the night in question, the helper had already indicated to him her interest in having sex with him.

The judge acquitted the man of the charge of sexual assault by penetration, as it was not corroborated by any other evidence.