The 26-year-old co-founder of Singapore food business Beef Bro went on trial on Tuesday (Sept 29) for molesting and sexually assaulting his younger sister’s former primary school classmate.
In a new update, Norvan Tan En Jie found guilty on Friday (July 15) of molesting and sexually assaulting his younger sister’s friend, who was staying over at their family flat after a night of drinking to celebrate Christmas.
Norvan Tan En Jie, 26, was convicted after claiming trial to two counts of sexual assault by penetration and two counts of outrage of modesty.
WHAT HAPPENED :
According to CNA, Norvan Tan was found guilty of sexually assaulting his sister’s friend, who was staying over at his family’s flat after a night of drinking in 2016.
According to CNA, the identity of the victim, who was 19 at the time, is protected by gag order. The victim and Tan’s sister returned to the flat in the early morning on Dec 26, 2016.
The victim was heavily intoxicated and Tan’s sister had to help her change her clothes. Around the same time, Tan returned home with two friends.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Ng Yiwen, Sheryl Yeo and Niranjan Ranjakunalan put forth the case that the assaults took place while Tan’s sister was talking to one of his friends in his room.
WHAT’S HER SIDE OF THE STORY ?
According to the victim’s testimony, while she was in the toilet, she heard a man ask from behind: “Are you okay?” He then carried her out of the toilet to the sofa in the living room, where he kissed her lips.
The victim felt an urge to vomit and ran to the toilet, where she heard the same male voice asking if she was okay.
The man then carried her and placed her on Tan’s sister’s bed, where he touched her chest and sexually assaulted her.
The victim felt nauseous and returned to the toilet, where she again heard the man’s voice asking after her. The man then sexually assaulted her in the toilet. The victim testified her friend who is also Tan’s sister later found her in the toilet and brought her to her room to sleep.
The victim was nervous, anxious, and upset after she woke up later that morning. She told her boyfriend and others about what she had gone through.
She also messaged Tan’s sister about what had happened to her, and Tan’s sister responded that she would track down the who it was.
Before leaving for home, the victim changed out of her shirt and shorts. Tan’s DNA was later discovered in semen on the backside of victim’s shirt’s after it was seized from the laundry basket in the toilet, according to CNA.
A few days later, the victim was informed by Tan’s sister that her brother had confessed to their family that he had carried out sexual act with the victim.
This was reiterated by Tan’s sister in her police statements as well.
During the trial, Tan’s sister gave testimony for the prosecution but afterwards claimed that she had lied in both her texts to the victim and her police statements.
She stated that in order to convince her friend to withdraw her plans to file a police report, she lied about her brother’s admission of engaging in sexual activity with the victim.
HIS SIDE OF THE STORY
Tan testified during the trial that he and his girlfriend at the time engaged in everyday sex at various spots throughout the flat, including the toilet, to account for the presence of his semen.
Tan, who was represented by lawyer Amarjit Singh, claimed that when the victim’s shirt made contact with the toilet’s floor or wall or other garments in the laundry basket, the semen was transferred to the victim’s shirt.
According to Tan’s account of events, he was smoking in the kitchen when he heard a thump and rushed to the bathroom to check it out. He said he saw the victim sprawled on the toilet floor.
He further claimed that he called the victim and gently touched her shoulder but got no response.
He said he helped into an upright position & left her sitting with her back against the wall of toilet. When his sister & friend came into the kitchen, he told his sister that her friend was “damn drunk”. Later he went to bed and rest of the day passed eventually, he added.
WHAT IS THE JUDGEMENT?
In convicting Norvan Tan En Jie, High Court judge Ang Cheng Hock also found that the man’s younger sister Julniee had given false testimony in court to help her brother.
According to CNA, Justice Ang Cheng Hock found that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt on all four counts of sexual assault and molestation.
He said that the victim’s account of events was unusually convincing, and that she was an honest and forthcoming witness.
In contrast, Tan’s testimony at trial was “an afterthought concocted as a defence to the charges” and full of inconsistencies, said the judge.
He found that the defence also failed to show how Tan’s semen could have transferred to the victim’s shirt through contact with other surfaces in the toilet.
He found that Tan’s sister’s messages and her police statements that her brother had admitted to a sexual act with the victim were truthful, despite her claims that she lied in them.
He rejected the defence’s argument that Tan’s sister was a habitual liar, instead finding that she was honest in her communication with the victim and demonstrated concern for her in the messages.
Tan will return to court for sentencing in August.
For sexual assault by penetration, he could be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned. He faces up to two years’ jail, a fine, caning, or any combination of these penalties for outrage of modesty.
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