After conducting a trial class for a potential client, a former Muay Thai instructor offered her a free Thai massage, claiming he was the only one in the gym trained in doing so.

However, in the midst of the massage, Tan Wai Luen — who also goes by the name Ivan — proceeded to sexually assault the 33-year-old woman with his finger.

On Jan. 22, Tan, 30, was found guilty of sexual assault by penetration, according to CNA.

He had previously claimed trial and disputed the woman's account of the incident.

Trial class with the offer of a free massage

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the woman testified that she had attended a trial Muay Thai class on October 1, 2016, at Encore Muay Thai, a gym located in Joo Chiat.

When she arrived at the gym at about 12:15pm, Tan introduced himself to her before conducting a "body analysis" which involved taking her weight and providing the woman with advice on her "problem areas".

After this, Tan conducted a Muay Thai class, which included the woman and three others in attendance.

The class ended about two hours later and the three other ladies left, with Tan and the woman sitting down to discuss the membership packages offered by the gym.

During the course of the discussion, Tan offered the woman a free Thai massage, telling her that he was the only one at the gym trained in doing so.

The woman accepted his offer, and at Tan's direction proceeded to the gym's massage table, closed the curtains, and removed her clothes except for her panties.

She then lay face down on the table and covered herself with a towel.

Entering the curtained area once the woman indicated her readiness, Tan then starting massaging her with his hands and olive oil.

A premeditated assault

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kavita Uthrapathy told the court that at one point, Tan massaged the woman's inner thighs, near her genitals.

This made her feel uncomfortable and she moved her legs around in an attempt to indicate her discomfort.

Tan then stopped massaging her inner thighs and moved to her calves, before subsequently going back to massaging her inner thighs.

But this time, he slipped his finger into her panties and sexually assaulted the woman.

This prompted the woman to turn around and shout "Oi!" at Tan.

Tan then removed his finger from her groin but did not apologise or say anything.

The massage continued for about 10 to 15 minutes, with the woman changing into her clothes and leaving the gym afterwards.

As she was leaving, the woman realised that the door had been locked from the inside.

According to the prosecution, this caused the woman to realised that the entire ordeal had been premeditated.

She contacted the gym's female co-founder, Vivian Chan, a day later and in a series of messages told Chan that Tan had "actually fingered her" during the Thai massage.

Chan then confronted Tan with the allegations, and though he denied giving the woman a massage in the first place, she decided to make a police report.

The woman had intended to make a police report but Chan ended up making a report first.

Inconsistencies in his testimony

In court, Chan testified that the gym did not offer Thai massages as part of its services and that she was the only one qualified to perform sports therapy massages on clients.

Court documents show that in their closing submissions, the prosecution pointed out the inconsistencies in Tan's testimony:

• He had initially told the police that he had not given a massage at all, because he "did not think it was so serious".
• When the trial started conceded that he may have touched the woman's genitals
• He later reneged on this and said that it was impossible for him to have touched her there

"The accused's account by all reasonable measures is a contrived one that ought to be disbelieved," argued the prosecution.

CNA reported District Judge Ong Chin Rhu as saying that "the accused lacked credibility, and his version (is) contrived".

Ong also found the woman's evidence contained a "ring of truth", while finding her explanations for not leaving the gym and reporting the crime immediately as reasonable.

The woman had said that she was unclothed and worried that Tan, who was trained in Muay Thai, might overpower her and hence stayed for the entirety of the massage.

She also said that her focus on caring for her sick child, whose fever spiked that evening, had stopped her from making a police report immediately.

"At the end of the day, there is no set formula for how victims of sex assault should respond," said Ong, according to CNA.

The case has been adjourned to Feb. 7.

According to CNA, the prosecution pushed for Tan to receive eight years' jail and four strokes of the cane.

Tan posted on his Facebook page that he had ceased work at the gym in November 2016.

Encore Muay Thai has since become a women's-only facility.

Top image from Encore Muay Thai and Ivan Tan's Facebook page