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55-year-old man jailed for molesting step-granddaughter

SINGAPORE — A 55-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months’ jail today (Feb 12) for molesting his then 12-year-old step-granddaughter in 2011. He cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity.

SINGAPORE — A 55-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months’ jail today (Feb 12) for molesting his then 12-year-old step-granddaughter in 2011. He cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity.

The victim’s mother caught him in the act after waking up in the middle of the night to use the toilet. The woman shouted and turned the lights on, and saw that the man had pulled down his step-granddaughter’s shorts and underwear to molest her.

The woman chased him out of the house but did not report the sexual assault because she wanted to give her step-father a second chance.

The family “reconnected” in 2013, only for the man to assault his step-granddaughter twice more in August and September 2014. A welfare officer from a child protection centre later accompanied the girl to report the sexual assaults to police in September 2014.

The prosecution urged the court to impose a jail term of at least 18 months, citing aggravating features in the case, including the victim’s young age and the familial relationship she shared with the perpetrator. The assaults had also taken place in the victim’s home, where she had the right to feel safe, the prosecution said.

They added that he showed a lack of remorse for his actions, with repeated assaults after being offered a second chance.

The prosecution added that caning is usually meted out in these types of cases, but that the accused, being over 50 years of age, would be spared.

In mitigation, the man said he is “truly remorseful” and pleaded for leniency, because his elder brother is critically ill and he would like to meet him soon. The man had previously been convicted in 1996 for having sex with a girl under 16 years of age, the court heard.

District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam said the “most glaring” aggravating factor was the victim’s young age, and the fact that she is the accused’s step-granddaughter. The “clear and repeated abuse of trust” of mother and daughter is evident, the judge said, noting the act man’s touch of the victim’s private parts was not fleeting but “protracted”.

For molesting a girl under the age of 14, the man could have been jailed up to five years and caned. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

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