Singapore
Singapore
File photo of the exterior of the Supreme Court in Singapore.
SINGAPORE: A man was jailed for 11-and-a-half years on Monday (Aug 22) for sexually abusing his stepdaughter and sister-in-law from the ages of eight and nine respectively.
He told the young girls that he was touching them out of “family love”. They kept quiet about the abuse, which took place from 2014 to 2015 and only came to light last year.
The offender cannot be named as the identity of the victims is protected by a gag order.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated sexual assault and two charges of outraging the modesty of a minor.
Nine more charges for sexual offences against children were considered for sentencing.
The man lived in a flat in Bedok with his stepdaughter – identified in court documents as V2 – and V2’s mother. He and V2’s mother married in 2014, and divorced in 2016.
The court heard that the offender started abusing his stepdaughter in 2014 or 2015, when she was eight to 10 years old.
As the girl’s mother was often out at work during the day, the offender, who was then unemployed, would be in the flat alone.
He would wait for V2 to return from school, sit next to her and touch her thighs while she used her phone. This progressed to touching her chest.
V2 felt disgusted and uncomfortable during these acts, but her stepfather assured her it was part of “family love” and told her not to tell anyone, court documents stated.
On one occasion, the man also asked V2 to touch his private parts and she did as instructed.
In 2015, the man escalated his abuse by entering V2’s bedroom and touching various parts of her body, including her private parts.
He also kissed her lips. The entire episode lasted half an hour, and V2 kept silent the entire time.
He continued to touch the girl in this manner almost on a daily basis, until he and his wife decided to divorce, and V2 moved out of the flat with her mother.
The man’s sister-in-law – identified in court documents as V1 – was the stepsister of his wife. His abuse of V1 started in 2014, when the girl was about nine.
Before the divorce, V1 frequently visited V2 at the flat to play video games and watch television, as they lived near each other.
On several of these occasions, V2’s mother was not at home and the offender was the only adult around. He would sit next to the girls while they played games.
He eventually started touching V1 on her waist and thigh frequently. These actions became more intrusive over time.
On one occasion in 2014, V1 decided to practise meditation inside V2’s room while the offender, V2 and V2’s mother sat outside in the living room.
The man went into the room, asked V1 to keep her eyes closed and told her that what he was going to do next would help her with her meditation.
He then touched her private parts. V1 was uncomfortable, but did not stop the man as she trusted him and believed that his actions would help her.
The man repeated this when V1 tried to meditate in the flat on another occasion sometime after Aug 8, 2014.
He told V1 to follow him into the master bedroom. There, he touched her private parts and sexually assaulted her.
V1 felt pain, but did not stop the man as she still trusted him. He eventually stopped when V1 said she needed to use the toilet.
The offender continued to molest the girl’s private parts when she visited the flat at other times.
He repeatedly explained to V1 that he was touching her “for medicinal purposes and family love”, court documents stated.
V1 did not react adversely as she trusted him, and she did not know then that what the man was doing to her was wrong.
In 2018, V1 attended a sex education class where she learnt what constituted inappropriate behaviour.
She realised that what the offender had done to her was wrong, and spent the next two hours crying in school.
But she did not tell her family about the abuse as she was afraid they would be angry that she had not told them earlier, or would not believe her.
It was only in February 2021 that V1 disclosed the abuse during an argument with her father. She was taken to make a police report.
Further investigations revealed that V2 had also been abused by the offender.
The man was diagnosed with paedophilic disorder towards girls under 14, and assessed to be at moderate risk of reoffending.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Ng Yiwen and Wong Shiau Yin sought 11 to 12 years’ jail and nine months’ jail in lieu of caning, as the offender is 50.
They cited the man’s exploitation of young and vulnerable victims, his abuse of trust and his premeditation, arguing that he used “trickery” to abuse V1 in the privacy of the master bedroom.
Defence counsel Gregory Fong asked for a shorter sentence of nine-and-a-half to 10 years’ jail for his client.
Justice Pang Khang Chau imposed a sentence that included six months’ jail in lieu of caning.
The punishment for aggravated sexual assault by penetration is between eight and 20 years’ jail and at least 12 strokes of the cane.
The penalty for outraging the modesty of a child under 14 is up to five years’ jail, a fine, caning or any combination of these punishments.
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