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A 45-year-old man originally sentenced to five years in prison and six strokes of the cane for sexually abusing a married woman whom he invited to his home was acquitted yesterday, following his appeal to the High Court.
Chen Benzhong, a photographer, was accused of hugging the 39-year-old woman and touching her breasts after immobilizing her on a bed.
He contested the charges, arguing that she was a willing party in the September 3, 2017 incident, but a district judge found him guilty of two counts of sexual abuse last year.
Yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Chua Lee Ming accepted the appeal and said it was not safe to uphold the sentence.
The judge accepted the arguments of Mr. Chen’s lawyers, Mr. Philip Fong, and Mr. Hee Theng Fong, that their intention to ask the woman to spend the night with him was very clear in the text messages between they.
In messages to the woman the night before, Mr. Chen, who is also married, invited her to his home and pointed out that her husband was out of town.
She asked “is it safe?”, And when he asked if it would be okay if he didn’t go home, she responded with a surprised face emoji.
The judge said she was clearly aware of the man’s intention and was at least open to the possibility of a date with him.
Judge Chua also noted that when Mr. Chen asked her to come to his room, she complied.
It was also “difficult” for her to see how her bra could have been undone, based on her account of being held.
The court heard that Mr. Chen, who met the woman four months before the incident, had sent her messages with terms of affection.
The woman, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity, maintained that they were only friends.
She testified that she had asked Mr. Chen to help her photograph some beauty products that she was selling and he invited her to his studio, which turned out to be his apartment.
She alleged that he repeatedly told her to go to the bedroom, and she reluctantly followed him.
She claimed that after he hugged her, she tried to push him away. But he pushed her onto the bed, reached under her blouse, and tugged on her bra before touching her. He added that he stopped after she screamed out loud.
The woman then ran out of the room and locked herself in the bathroom, where she called a colleague for help. She also told Mr. Chen to go to her room.
After more than an hour, he came out of the bathroom, got his keys, and left the floor without shoes.
Her colleague and two police officers who saw her on the empty deck testified that she was crying, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Lim said. But Chen’s lawyers argued that the signs of distress did not mean that she had been raped.
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