Woman who feared ex-boyfriend would not take responsibility for pregnancy jailed for false rape claim

During investigations later that day, Liau maintained her lie to an investigating officer and to a duty officer from the Singapore Police Force’s Serious Sexual Crimes Branch that she had been raped. She was escorted to the One-Stop Abuse Forensic Examination centre within the Police Cantonment Complex for a forensic medical examination.

The centre allows victims of sexual crimes to undergo forensic medical examinations without having to be taken to the hospital, reducing the likelihood of encountering other people.

Liau only admitted to the lie at around 11.37pm, when a police officer started recording her statement.

“The accused 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 were to become pregnant,” the prosecution told the court.

She initially maintained the lie as she feared she would be jailed for making a false report, but later recanted it as she did not want the victim to be arrested or imprisoned.

By then, however, police officers had already begun investigating the victim. He was traced in the wee hours of Jan 8, 2026, taken to the Police Cantonment Complex, and had a blood sample taken.

During a 40-minute video-recorded interview, the victim said that the sex with Liau had been consensual.

At about 1.26am on Jan 8, 2026, Liau underwent a medical examination and told medical staff that the sexual encounter had been consensual.

In a further statement recorded from Liau later, she confirmed that she had consented to sex with the victim.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kimberly Boo urged the court to jail Liau for three weeks, citing deterrence as the primary factor to consider.

“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,” Ms Boo said. A total of 13 officers, a doctor and a nurse had been activated for investigations.

She 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”.

Ms Boo pointed out that Liau had provided false information to three officers, including the one who had received her police report.

“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,” Ms Boo said.

“The sentencing of such cases must sound a clarion call of general deterrence even as it considers the need for individual retribution.”

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