S’porean woman, 35, falsely accuses ex-boyfriend of rape, gets 5 weeks’ jail

A 35-year-old Singaporean woman was sentenced to five weeks' jail on Jun. 12, 2026, after she falsely accused her ex-boyfriend of rape, despite having consensual sex with him.

CNA reported that Liau Wan Ting had pleaded guilty to one count of providing false information to a public servant for making a false rape allegation against her ex-boyfriend in a police report.

Liau was concerned that her ex-boyfriend would not take responsibility if she became pregnant.

This was after she used a birth control patch that had expired.

Her ex-boyfriend, whose identity is protected by a gag order, cannot be named, and court documents seen by Mothership did not state his age.

Remained friends

Liau, who was doing food delivery at the time, had met the victim through TikTok in 2024, and they began a romantic relationship in August 2024.

Though they ended the relationship in October 2025, they continued to be friends and had sexual relations.

At about 1am on Jan. 7, 2026, Liau asked the victim to pick her up, after which they went to the victim's residence and had consensual sex.

Concept of consent

After breakfast, they parted ways and that evening, Liau called her sister-in-law, asking if sex with someone not considered her partner could be considered as rape.

Her sister-in-law explained to her about consent and court documents stated that Liau falsely told her sister-in-law that she had been raped by the victim.

This was in spite of Liau being aware of the difference between consensual sex and rape.

Her sister-in-law then advised her to lodge a police report and Liau did so at about 6:48pm.

Maintained lie, admitted later

Liau continued to maintain her lie about being raped to an investigating officer and to a duty officer from the Singapore Police Force's Serious Sexual Crimes Branch.

She was then escorted to a medical examination at the One-Stop Abuse Forensic Examination (OneSAFE) centre within the Police Cantonment Complex.

Court documents stated that this allows victims of sexual crime to undergo forensic medical examination without being taken to the hospital and to be interviewed at a single, private location, reducing the likelihood of encountering other people.

At about 11:37pm on Jan. 7, 2026, after a police officer started recording her statement, Liau admitted that she had lied about being raped.

She also stated that the sexual intercourse had been consensual.

In addition, Liau explained that she had lied because her birth control patch had expired on Jan. 6, 2026, and she was concerned that the victim would not take responsibility if she became pregnant.

Though she maintained her lie out of fear that she would be jailed, she recanted her false allegation as she did not want her ex-boyfriend to be arrested or jailed.

Victim investigated

However, court documents stated that police officers had already started investigating the victim at that time.

In the wee hours of Jan. 8, 2026, he was traced and taken to the Police Cantonment Complex.

He also had a blood sample taken and said during a video-recorded interview from 3:46am to 4:29am that sex with Liau had been consensual.

At about 1:26am on the same day, a forensic medical examination was conducted by the doctor at the OneSAFE centre, with a nurse present, where Liau told the doctor that her sexual intercourse with the victim was consensual and there was no assault.

A further statement was recorded from Liau at 1:41am on the same day to confirm her position that she had consented to having sexual intercourse with the victim.

Reasons for jail

The deputy public prosecutor, in citing deterrence as the primary sentencing consideration, sought a three-week jail sentence for Liau.

She said this was because "the false information caused an innocent person to be subjected to investigations and led to a significant wastage of public resources, which would not have occurred otherwise".

Court documents stated that 13 officers, one doctor and one nurse had been activated for investigations.

It added that the victim had to undergo the "disconcerting experience of having to give his statement and go through various procedures in the wee hours of the morning".

Noting that Liau had provided false information to three officers, the prosecutor said: "False allegations of rape are particularly egregious as they not only waste public resources and cause distress to innocent persons but also do a grave disservice to genuine victims of sexual assault, whose accounts may consequently be met with unwarranted scepticism."

She added: "The sentencing of such cases must sound a clarion call of general deterrence even as it considers the need for individual retribution."

Sentencing, penalties

Shin Min Daily News reported that when the victim attended the court hearing, he was asked if he would be seeking compensation from Liau.

To that, the victim said he would not be doing so.

He added that he did not resent Liau, and just hoped the matter could be settled as soon as possible.

Shin Min reported that the judge said in sentencing that making false allegations of rape against innocent persons was no small matter.

The judge added that since such claims may be difficult to verify, it often depends on the testimony of both parties.

Even if the claim was eventually proven to be false, the reputation of the accused could already have been irreparably damaged, the judge said.

For providing false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed up to two years, or fined, or both.