Man admits to molesting female friend in her home

They were friends, but after a night out, he molested the 25-year-old woman in her home, leaving her feeling "so shocked and scared that she could not move".

Yesterday, the Singaporean offender, now 30, pleaded guilty in a district court to one count of molestation.

He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim's identity.

The court heard that the pair had a drinking session with other friends around 9pm on Nov 15 last year, before leaving the bar around 1am.

The victim invited the man and two other friends to her home in a Mount Vernon Road condominium to hang out.

One of the friends left the unit around 3am, while the other fell asleep on a sofa in the living room.

The offender asked the woman if he could stay overnight, and when she agreed, they continued chatting in the living room.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daniel Ling said: "The accused and the victim talked about 'spooning', which is a sexual topic. After some time, both the victim and the accused fell asleep on the living room floor.

"Some time later, the victim woke up and realised that the accused was hugging her from behind."

She left the living room to use the toilet and then fell asleep in her own bedroom. But she left the door to the room open.

The man woke up soon after and moved to her bed. The victim was shocked to find him resting beside her. The man slipped his left hand into his friend's top and molested her.

DPP Ling told the court: "Scared and frightened, the victim took the opportunity to roll away from the accused and faced away from him. The victim felt disgusted and outraged.

"Soon after, the accused's alarm went off, indicating that it was about 6.30am. The accused got up from the victim's bed and left the (unit)."

The woman told her boyfriend, who was then studying overseas, about her ordeal before alerting the police on Nov 21 last year.

DPP Ling pressed for the offender to be sentenced to at least eight months' jail with up to three strokes of the cane, stressing that the offence involved skin-to-skin contact.

Defence lawyer Lim Kia Tong pleaded for his client to be given six months' jail with no caning. He said that his client is remorseful and that the offence was not premeditated.

The offender will be sentenced next Wednesday.