28 years’ jail, 24 strokes for man who repeatedly raped young stepdaughter over 7 years

SINGAPORE — A warehouse assistant persistently preyed sexually on his primary school-age stepdaughter from 2012 to 2018, slapping and scolding her into submitting to his demands.

She was so fearful of him that she kept silent, thinking no one in her family would believe her. She finally told her aunt what had happened after deciding she could no longer endure the abuse.

The 41-year-old stepfather pleaded guilty to three charges of aggravated statutory rape and aggravated sexual assault by penetration on Monday (Jan 13) in the High Court.

The Singaporean was sentenced to 28 years behind bars and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane. Twelve other similar charges, including molestation, were taken into consideration for sentencing.

At the time of his offences, he was aged between 34 and 39. The girl, who is now 14, was between six and 12 years old. Under a court gag order, he cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.

Along with four other children from his marriage to the victim’s biological mother, they lived in a one-room Housing and Development Board flat and usually slept together in the living room.

His pro bono lawyer Henry Lim told the court in mitigation that the girl’s mother has since divorced him and he has been “abandoned by all his loved ones”.

“He instructs (me) that he does not have any defence nor any excuses as to why he went down this path and behaved in the manner that he did. He informs that he is and deserves to be an outcast by all his family members,” Mr Lim said.

SAID HE COULD TOUCH HER ANYWHERE HE WANTED

The court heard that the victim treated him as her real father, growing closer to him than her biological father.

He began sexually assaulting her in 2012, waking her up at 5am and touching her private parts while she slept in the living room.

“The victim was curious and kept quiet as the accused told her not to tell anyone. The victim was not aware that these touches were wrong,” Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chee Ee Ling told the court.

He then escalated his actions by raping her, forcing her to give him oral sex and sodomising her, all without wearing a condom. She disliked this as they were “painful and uncomfortable”, but complied as she was scared of antagonising him.

On one occasion in 2013, when she was seven years old, he covered her mouth and slapped her while sexually assaulting her. He also put his finger to his lips and told her to be quiet.

In 2014, she told him to stop groping her in the bedroom, but he retorted that her body was his and he could touch her anywhere he wanted.

Even though he promised to stop abusing her after that, he continued forcing her to give him oral sex.

He first raped her that same year, scolding her and telling her to shut up when she shouted.

It was only when she was in Primary 5 that she realised what he was doing was wrong. Her classmates, who had attended sex education classes, told her the difference between “a good touch and a bad touch”.

“She realised that such acts are wrong and felt ashamed that she was no longer a virgin. She told the accused to stop doing these things to her but he continued to persist despite her refusal,” DPP Chee said.

‘TREATED VICTIM AS SEX TOY’: DPP

His offences came to light on Jan 17, 2018, after he tried to sodomise her in the bedroom but she resisted.

When she got dressed and left for school, she sent a text message to her aunt, saying: “I need your help… my daddy went crazy today morning he forced me to have ‘sex’ with him… he then opened my skirt and touched my butt.”

A teacher noticed her crying when her aunt called her, and took her to the school counsellor. A police report was lodged later that day.

In a psychiatric report prepared about three months later, she said that she “feels angry, ashamed and embarrassed that she has lost her virginity at a young age”.

In her victim impact statement, she shared that she constantly worries that people will judge her and still suffers flashbacks of the abuse, as well as fears that he will take revenge on her. She now finds it hard to trust men and keeps to herself.

An Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist found that the offender did not have any mental illnesses. While he suffers from substance use disorder, there was no relation between it and his offences.

DPP Chee sought the sentence imposed, telling the court that the girl “suffered untold trauma and misery” at his hands.

“She looked to him for fatherly love, affection and security, which were absent from her biological father. Not only did the accused shirk his responsibility to care for and protect her like a father should, he treated the victim as a sex toy who was conveniently placed in his home to satiate his odious sexual desires,” the prosecutor added.