Man who sexually abused girlfriend's 8-year-old daughter given 12.5 years' jail, 15 strokes of cane

SINGAPORE — Not only did she fail to report him to the police for sexually abusing her eight-year-old daughter, the woman also pleaded to the judge to give her boyfriend a lighter sentence.

Her appeal that he "sincerely wants to change to be a good father" and that their baby daughter needed him cut no ice with the judge, who sentenced the 34-year-old dispatch rider to 12 years and six months in jail, with 15 strokes of the cane on Monday (Aug 20).

The man, who cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect the victim, was convicted on one count of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of aggravated sexual assault and one count of outrage of modesty committed against a minor.

His crime came to light only in February 2016, almost two years after the sex abuse took place, when the victim's 54-year-old grandmother lodged a police report against the man.

The court heard that she did so after learning that he had slapped and punched the girl, leaving a bruise on her head. It was not stated when or how the grandmother found out about the sex abuse.

The victim's 31-year-old mother, whose occupation is unknown, also cannot be named due to the gag order. She has been in a relationship with the married man since 2009.

But in 2012, while still regularly living with his wife with whom he has a son, the dispatch rider started cohabitating with the woman at a public rental flat in Tampines.

The man's sex abuse of the child took place over her June school holidays in 2014. Home on sick leave, he asked the victim, who was eight then, to massage his legs in the living room of their rental flat. She complied, while watching a YouTube video on her mobile phone.

While massaging, she unwittingly made contact with his groin area. Instead of stopping her, he asked her to massage him higher up near his groin area.

Subsequently, he got her to massage him twice more on two separate days in the same month. The final time, he exposed himself to the girl, and got her to perform oral sex on him.

Although she resisted, he proceeded to kiss and molest her, before getting her to commit more sexual acts on him.

One day later, the girl confided in her neighbour, a 33-year-old woman who recorded their conversation and played it back to the girl's mother.

Initially outraged by her boyfriend's acts, the woman confronted her lover. She refused to accept his apology and threw him out of the flat.

She relented and allowed him to return only after he persisted. As the victim did not report any further incidents after the confrontation, she chose to let the matter slide.

But on March 4, 2016, the man was arrested after the victim's grandmother lodged a police report.

Even after welfare officers got the man to move out of the rental flat when the case proceeded in 2016, the couple stayed in close contact.

She bore him a daughter, who is now 11 months old, while they were living apart.

Court documents suggested the couple had two other biological children together, a daughter of unknown age and a son who died before he turned one.

In the appeal letter dated Aug 17 that she submitted to the judge, she wrote: "Please give our children, including (the victim) and myself hope that we may live happily like before. Our baby needs her father. (He) had left her when she was three months old. We loved him so much. (The victim) and the other children are looking to be reunited with (him)."

Adding that he has intentions to marry her, she wrote: "He is looking to better himself by learning skills that could help him raise his family in the hope of a low sentence. We also hope he could come home soon."

Seeking a nine-year jail term for the man, his lawyer, Mr Dhanwant Singh, said the "father and daughter relationship" between the victim and his client remained intact.

"After June 2014, the family unity was amended. It was only in February 2016 when the accused had taken steps to discipline the child that the case was reported," said Mr Singh.

But in sentencing the man, Judicial Commissioner (JC) Audrey Lim said he abused his position of trust, having assumed the role of a father figure to the victim, who is now 12 years old.

JC Lim agreed with the prosecution that an aggravating factor in this case was how young and vulnerable the victim was.

In seeking a sentence of at least 14 years' jail for the man, Deputy Public Prosecutor Winston Man told the court that the victim was "more defenceless and unwitting than a teenager", yet the accused did "not come to his senses" on his own. Furthermore, he did not just commit a "one-off" act on the child and stopped only after he was confronted, the DPP emphasised.