Man accused of raping 12-year-old: He called himself Lucifer
Lee Seow Peng drove her to an open-air carpark at Chinese Garden where he allegedly raped her in the backseat of his car.
Photo: Berita Harian
Ronald Loh
Thursday, Dec 17, 2015
A 39-year-old man has been accused of raping a 12-year-old girl, just three days after meeting her through a mobile phone messaging app.
After exchanging messages with her, Lee Seow Peng, who used Lucifer as a moniker on the app, picked up the girl near her school in May 2012.
He drove her to an open-air carpark at Chinese Garden where he allegedly raped her in the backseat of his car.
He was arrested after her mother discovered his messages when he allegedly tried to arrange to meet the girl again five days later.
Lee is on trial over charges of rape, sexually grooming a minor and attempting to get the girl to perform an indecent act.
He pleaded not guilty to the three charges.
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jasmine Chin-Sabado said in the prosecution's statement that the girl first met Lee via the unnamed mobile phone messaging app on May 26, 2012.
She was then in Secondary 1.
The two started chatting.
Lee allegedly asked the girl, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity, to be his girlfriend.
He is said to have done this despite her telling him she was 13. At that point, she was a few days shy of her 13th birthday.
On the evening of May 29, 2012, the girl had just finished her co-curricular activities when Lee picked her up from a bus stop near her school, said DPP Chin-Sabado.
She was in her school T-shirt and shorts.
Lee drove to a carpark at Chinese Garden and allegedly instructed her to go to the backseat of his car.
She complied and it was there that he allegedly raped her, said DPP Chin-Sabado.
He then drove to a nearby McDonald's outlet and bought her a burger before sending her home.
MESSAGES
On June 3, 2012, Lee allegedly attempted to arrange another meeting with the girl.
Her mother discovered Lee's messages to her daughter that day.
The girl revealed what had happened and her parents took her to a police station to report the matter, said DPP Chin-Sabado.
Dr Manisha Mathur, from KK Women's and Children's Hospital's department of obstetrics and gynaecology, who examined the girl in June 2012, is among the 15 prosecution witnesses.
Dr Mathur told the court that the girl had told her that she resisted Lee, but he was too strong and he raped her while wearing a condom.
She also said that the girl's hymen was torn, but it was difficult to ascertain when that had happened as the examination was more than 72 hours after the alleged incident.
Dr Parvathy Pathy, from the Institute of Mental Health's Child Guidance Clinic, testified that the girl "felt dirty" after the alleged rape.
In his cross-examination of Dr Pathy, Lee, who is representing himself since he is unable to afford a lawyer, said he met the girl in an adult chat group.
He said that it was the girl who initiated contact with him.
The trial continues today.
If found guilty of rape, Lee faces between eight and 20 years' jail and can be given at least 12 strokes of the cane.
If convicted of sexually grooming a girl under 16, he faces up to three years' jail with a fine.
If found guilty of attempting to procure the commission of an obscene or indecent act by the young girl, he could be jailed up to five years' jail and fined up to $10,000.