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15 years’ jail, caning for father who sexually assaulted and molested 5-year-old daughter

SINGAPORE — When his young daughter stayed over at his flat on weekends, he took the chance to sexually abuse her in his bedroom on several occasions.

File photo of the Supreme Court in Singapore

File photo of the Supreme Court in Singapore

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  • A man sexually abused his daughter after showing her pornographic videos
  • He had separated from the girl's mother by then
  • His offences came to light four years later in 2019
  • His lawyers told the court that he cannot forgive himself and is “heartened” that the girl misses him

 

SINGAPORE — When his young daughter stayed over at his flat on weekends, he took the chance to sexually abuse her in his bedroom on several occasions.

He would first show the five-year-old girl obscene videos that he was watching on his mobile phone before violating her, once forcing her to perform oral sex on him.

On Monday (March 8) in the High Court, the 33-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 15 years’ jail and 15 strokes of the cane. 

The former cleaner pleaded guilty to one charge each of aggravated sexual assault by penetration and aggravated molestation, with another five charges — including exhibition of an obscene object — taken into consideration for sentencing.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, who is now aged 10.

The court heard that she was his only child from his marriage with her mother. 

The couple married in December 2009 and they stayed with his parents in a flat in the western region of Singapore, but the marriage broke down around 2013.

The girl’s mother moved out and took custody of their daughter, but the girl stayed over with her father on weekends. They would sleep on the same bed in his bedroom.

The man, then aged about 28, sexually abused the girl a few times between March and May 2015.

Once, he was watching a pornographic video on his bed when she came into the bedroom after a shower. She was clad only in a bath towel.

Curious about what her father was watching, she viewed the video with him. He then performed an obscene act on her before going to the toilet.

After this incident, she felt sad when she thought about why he had done this and why he treated her that way.

Around May 2015, she was asleep on his bed when he lay beside her and watched another pornographic video. He had locked the door behind them.

After they watched the video together, he violated her again.

NOT OF UNSOUND MIND

Her mother soon noticed that her daughter seemed unlike her usual happy self after she returned from one of the stayovers and asked her what was wrong. The girl then told her in simple terms what had happened.

Shocked, the older woman confronted her ex-husband over the phone. He denied the acts at first but later confessed and promised not to do it again, asking her not to report the matter to the police.

While she initially wanted to lodge a police report, she did not do so because the girl appeared distressed. 

She also tried to prevent her daughter from seeing the man after the girl confided in her, but relented after she asked to see him.

In July 2019, the mother went to the Serangoon Moral Family Service Centre to get help for the girl’s behavioural issues.

During a meeting with a case worker, she revealed that her ex-husband had sexually assaulted their daughter. On the case worker’s advice, she filed a police report.

A psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health found that he did not have any mental disorder and was not of unsound mind at the time.

In a medical report dated last year, it was stated that the girl underwent surgery in October 2015 to remove a plastic toy from her private parts. She told a medical social worker that she had inserted it herself.

'HE CANNOT FORGIVE HIMSELF'

In mitigation, the man’s lawyer Chong Xin Yi said that their client had stopped violating the girl on his own accord before his ex-wife confronted him.

In the four years between the girl’s confiding to her mother and the police report, they had continued having a “good father and daughter relationship”, Ms Chong added.

“The accused has to live with the knowledge and guilt of what he has done. We submit that… (this) is retribution itself. To date, he cannot forgive himself for what he has done. He is only heartened that she misses him, from notes and drawings she has given him,” the lawyer said.

While sentencing the man, Justice Valerie Thean said that the impact of his sexual crimes against the girl was “incredibly substantial”, as evidenced from her victim impact statement.

“Of course, there will be rehabilitation he can work towards and he really needs to think about it and think about his actions in relation to his child… He had abused his parental responsibility in the sanctity of a home, which should have been a safe place for a child to rest in,” the judge added.

His sentence was backdated to when he was remanded on July 25, 2019.

For sexual assault by penetration of a minor under 14, the man could have been jailed up to 20 years, as well as fined or caned.

For molestation of a minor under 14, he could have been jailed up to five years, fined, caned, or been penalised by all three.

Related topics

molest sexually assault court crime family pornography

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