S'pore company director charged with rape was married, told victim it was a mistake all adults make

A Singapore company director who denied raping a work acquaintance has revealed at court that he was married at the time of the incident.

Jasper Lee Loong Kuan, 37, was charged with raping a female customer service representative from another company in 2021.

Lee previously pleaded not guilty, arguing that he thought it was consensual or mistook it as consensual, and claimed trial on Sep. 18.

When the trial resumed on Oct. 23, he told the court upon cross-examination that he was married, and that the pair had an intimate night leading up to the alleged rape, Shin Min Daily News reported.

What happened

According to the prosecution on Sep. 18, Lee and the victim knew each other through work, as she would liaise with him regarding export shipments, and they kept in contact.

They met for the first time at a restaurant in VivoCity on Sep. 15, 2021, and had some wine over dinner.

Lee later offered to drive her home, and accompanied her to her place, where he allegedly raped her.

The woman had been drifting in and out of consciousness, and was too drunk to push him away.

Around the same time as Lee left the unit at 9:50pm, the victim called the police to report Lee for raping her while she was drunk.

Lee pleaded not guilty, arguing that he thought it was consensual or mistook it as consensual, and claimed trial on Sep. 18.

An intimate night

On Oct. 23, Lee told the court that the atmosphere between the pair was affectionate on the night of the incident, Shin Min reported.

He and the woman called each other "baby" and they kissed in the car, he said.

According to Shin Min, he added that while he was driving her home, the woman held on to his arm and leaned against his shoulder.

It felt like they were already in love, Lee said.

He also claimed that he gave her a lift home not out of a desire to have sex with her, but out of care.

Footage from his car's dashcam was played in court, showing that the woman had asked Lee for a plastic bag.

He did not have any, and offered her a tissue box instead, while saying "Are you okay?" and "I'm here."

When questioned in court about his intentions, he said that he was only expressing his care and concern.

According to Lee, after they had sex at her house, the woman asked him angrily, "Why did you do this to me?"

"We only made a mistake that all adults would make," he replied.

The woman repeated her question after a while, and Lee told her that he was leaving as it was late.

She said that she would call the police if he left.

Lee could tell from her tone that she was angry, but he did not treat it as a big deal and told her to go ahead if she wanted to.

Missed calls from the victim

As reported by Shin Min, the prosecution said that Lee did not answer four calls from the victim after the incident, based on phone records.

Lee previously told the court he had only missed three.

He claimed that for one of the calls, he could not pick it up as he had received a call from a customer, but the prosecution argued that he had rejected the victim's call before making a call himself to the customer.

Lee's wife will be testifying in court as a witness for the defence when the trial resumes again on Nov. 13.

The prosecution has said previously that they plan to call 31 witnesses, including experts, to testify that the woman lacked capacity to give consent and did not give consent, even if she was able to.

They also brought up evidence – restaurant CCTV, car footage, police camera footage – pointed to the fact that the victim was intoxicated and could not have consented to sex.

Top images from Shin Min and Canva