Jail, caning for intellectually disabled man who attempted to rape step-niece

SINGAPORE — An intellectually disabled man, who attempted to rape his four-year-old step-niece, was sentenced to six years’ jail and three strokes of the cane on Monday (July 25).

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was 18 years old and a student at Delta Senior School then. He has an IQ of 61.

The court was told that the man was watching television in the living room one day in February 2012 when the girl climbed on top of him in an attempt to play. 

He became sexually aroused, and stripped her to try to have sex with her. But he ended up ejaculating prematurely, and stopped.

The girl pulled up her underwear and shorts, and ran crying to her mother, who was in the kitchen with a friend. 

Her mother did not think much of it then but days later, the girl continued to complain of pain around her private parts. The offence came to light after a medical examination.

Calling for an imprisonment term of at least seven years, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kavita Uthrapathy urged the court to consider the “physical pain and absolute terror” that the girl had endured. 

“Such victims not only lack the physical strength to provide any form of resistance to a sexual assault, but would in most cases also lack the capacity to understand and articulate the abuse perpetrated against them, much less seek redress from it,” she said.

After the incident, the victim had difficulty sleeping and frequently woke up crying, said her mother. She also disliked hearing the man’s name, and described him as “bad”.

While the prosecutor acknowledged the man’s intellectual disability, she said it did not compromise his awareness that his actions were wrong or his understanding of its consequences.

DPP Kavita added: “It was blatantly clear that he set out to rape her. He’s entirely aware of his actions. If not for the fact that he had already ejaculated, he might have gone further.”

Defence lawyer Daniel Soo, however, argued that his client was “little more than a child himself” in terms of intelligence and maturity, given his low IQ.

His mother had three marriages, and died of cancer when he was 17. Hence, he was also raised in an environment with “little or no parental guidance on sexuality and societal norms”, the lawyer added.

“We know from Institute of Mental Health reports that he was exposed to pornography. That was the only source of education that he had on this matter. 

“He never had someone sit him down and tell him it was wrong,” said Mr Soo.

Dismissing the argument, Judicial Commissioner Hoo Sheau Peng said the offence “might have gone undetected given the age of the victim”.

His sentence will be backdated to February 2014, when he was first remanded. 

Another charge of attempting to rape his then-13-year-old girlfriend was also taken into consideration during sentencing.