Man convicted of molesting 9-year-old daughter of family friends during tuition

SINGAPORE — A 59-year-old man was on Thursday (April 28) convicted of molesting a nine-year-old girl who is the daughter of family friends, during the girl's tuition lesson with his wife in their home.

He had claimed trial to a count of outraging the modesty of a minor in 2016, and a count of attempting to outrage the modesty of a minor in 2019.

The offender cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the victim. The court previously heard that he and his wife were close family friends with the victim's parents.

The offender had known the victim since she was about three, and was especially close to her among her siblings.

According to the prosecution, he would exclusively buy presents for the victim during her birthday and when she did well for her examinations.

"This is a case where the accused, a trusted family friend whom the young victim felt closer to than her own parents, took advantage of his position and her ignorance to violate her on multiple occasions," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Zu Zhao.

The molestation went unreported for years until 2019, when the offender asked the victim if her younger sister had already grown pubic hair.

This greatly alarmed the victim, who became afraid that her sister would also fall prey to the man.

She decided to talk to a friend about this, and eventually told a school counsellor about what had happened.

THE 2016 INCIDENT

The prosecution's case was that in 2016, the victim and her younger sister were having tuition in the offender's home when the victim had a breakout of hives on her arm.

The offender's wife offered to apply powder on her arm. They went into the master bedroom to do so and saw the offender there.

The offender told his wife that he would help to apply the powder so she could resume teaching the victim's younger sister outside. His wife then left the room and he closed the door.

The offender told the victim to pull her pants down and molested her.

The victim said she did not know what the offender had done was wrong at the time. She only realised this when she learnt what a "bad touch" was in a Primary 5 sex education class, which led to her breaking down in school.

Even then, she did not tell anyone because "a part of her did not want to believe that it happened", said the prosecution.

The victim also testified that she did not report the matter to her parents as she was not close to any of her family members then, and was in fact closer to the offender at the time.

THE 2019 INCIDENT

The prosecution also made the case for a second offence committed sometime between Sept 9 and 13, 2019, when the victim was again at the offender's house for tuition.

She had resumed tuition despite what happened earlier as her parents wanted her to do it since her Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) was nearing.

During one of the breaks, she was sitting on the edge of the sofa in the living room when the offender came and sat next to her.

The offender tried to put his hand down the back of her pants. When the victim felt his touch, she swept his hand away and he stood up and left.

According to the victim's medical report, she would sometimes have flashbacks and nightmares of the incidents, and bad dreams about people whom she trusts. She also had thoughts of self-harm.

"UNUSUALLY CONVINCING"

The offender denied all the allegations at trial. For the first incident, he claimed that he had applied powder on the victim's body in the presence of his wife. He claimed to have done this from the victim's back to her legs, touching her buttocks in the process.

For the second incident, he claimed to have put his arm across her shoulder while telling her to stop playing games on her mobile phone. He claimed that he unsuccessfully tried to kiss her cheek with his cheek, and kiss her forehead with his lips.

Delivering his judgment, District Judge Victor Yeo said that he found the victim's evidence at trial to be consistent, logical, coherent and "unusually convincing".

He agreed with the prosecution that the victim's ability to recount details of the 2016 incident showed that it had left an "indelible impression" on her, and noted that her evidence remained "unshaken" under rigorous cross-examination.

In contrast, he said that the testimony of the offender, who denied all the allegations, was inconsistent and not credible.

The judge said he was therefore satisfied that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The offender will return to court for sentencing next month.

For outraging the modesty of a child, he faces up to five years' jail, a fine or both. Attempted outrage of modesty carries up to half the maximum jail term. The man cannot be caned as he is above 50. CNA