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Paedophile on trial for alleged sexual assault of his ex-girlfriends' children more than 20 years ago

SINGAPORE — A 48-year-old man is on trial at the High Court for allegedly committing a series of sexual assaults against the children of his ex-girlfriend more than 20 years ago.

A 48-year-old man is on trial for alleged sexual acts against two siblings more than 20 years ago.
A 48-year-old man is on trial for alleged sexual acts against two siblings more than 20 years ago.
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  • A man is on trial for committing a series of sexual assaults against two siblings
  • The events occurred more than 20 years ago, when they were under the age of 13
  • The alleged offences only came to light in 2016 when one of the siblings had a dispute with their mother and the other revealed it

SINGAPORE — A 48-year-old man is on trial at the High Court for allegedly committing a series of sexual assaults against the children of his ex-girlfriend more than 20 years ago.

The offences were allegedly committed against the siblings — a brother and his sister — over multiple years when they were under the age of 13. They are now aged 31 and 29 respectively.

None of the parties can be named due to a court-issued order to protect the identities of the victims.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Gail Wong, who spoke on behalf of her colleagues Joshua Lim and Lim Ying Min, told the court on Thursday (Jan 13) that they are proceeding against the accused on eight charges for the trial.

Five charges relate to alleged offences committed against the female victim — one for attempted rape and four others for outrage of modesty during the period of February 2000 to 2005, when the victim was between the age of seven and 13. 

Another three charges relate to alleged offences committed against her brother from Nov 19, 2001 to 2003 when he was between the age of 11 and 13.

The man is accused of committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature by fellatio and anal-penile penetration, among other sexual acts.

The accused, who was between the age of 26 and 32 during the period of the alleged offences, is represented by Mr Wong Siew Hong and Ms Josephine Costan Iezu from Eldan Law LLP.

While he denies these eight charges, DPP Wong said it is not disputed that the accused had viewed pornographic images of naked women with the female victim and asked her to perform the same acts depicted when she was between seven and nine years old.

The prosecutor added that it was also not disputed that the accused masturbated the male victim on two occasions when he was between 11 and 13 years old.

For the duration of the trial, DPP Wong said that the prosecution will produce 23 witnesses, including the siblings and their mother, to “prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused committed the offences as charged”.

The victims’ mother was the first witness to take the stand on Thursday afternoon, an in-camera session that prevented members of the public from attending.

‘MADE US DO WEIRD THINGS’

Court documents stated that the accused and the victims’ mother met in 1998 while they were working together at a pub.

About two months after their first meeting, they started dating and the woman introduced her children to the accused about six months later.

Around February 2000, the accused rented a Housing and Development Board flat with the woman and her children.

Six years later, the relationship between the accused and the victims’ mother ended and he moved out.

The offences against the siblings came to light on Dec 12, 2016 following a dispute between the woman and her daughter.

The woman complained to her son about his sister’s seemingly rebellious behaviour, to which he responded to her with a mobile text message that read: “Mama…(the accused) used to rape us.”

The male victim then told his mother that the siblings chose not to reveal this to her for 10 years “because we know you work very hard”.

He added: “Mama everytime (sic) you were not around, he’ll beat us till we faint…He touched us and made us do weird things. Then, whenever you’re around he pretends it’s nothing.”

He also told his mother that he believes his sister suffers from depression as a result of the alleged incidents. 

Following this revelation, the victims’ mother arranged for them to make a police report the following day, DPP Wong said.

The accused was eventually arrested about three years later on May 19, 2019 at the Tuas Checkpoint.

Court documents said that as the accused was living elsewhere, the police were not able to trace him at his registered address that was still listed as the address he was staying with the victims’ and their mother.

The accused intends to plead guilty to failing to change his registered address, a charge which will be stood down for the purposes of the trial.

A subsequent psychiatric examination of the accused found that he was “not of unsound mind at the time of the alleged offence” but was diagnosed with paedophilic disorder.

The trial continues till Friday, with a second tranche to take place from Jan 18 to 21.

Related topics

court crime sexual assault family paedophilic disorder children

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