Caning, jail for man who sexually assaulted stepdaughter, posted her nude photos on ‘SG Nasi Lemak’ Telegram group

SINGAPORE — Afraid that her mother would divorce her stepfather again, a 12-year-old girl kept silent about the fact that he was sexually assaulting her at home.

He eventually forced her to take nude photographs of herself and send them to him over WhatsApp, then made her perform obscene sex acts on him.

The assaults got so bad that she contemplated killing herself with weapons that her boyfriend gave her to protect herself. Her stepfather’s offences came to light only when she confided in her boyfriend, who in turn told her aunt.

When the police began investigating, they discovered that the older man had posted her nude photos on the obscene Telegram chat group SG Nasi Lemak, which had more than 44,000 members at its peak.

On Monday (July 25), the 38-year-old Singaporean was sentenced in the High Court to 11 years and six months’ jail, as well as 15 strokes of the cane.

He pleaded guilty to one charge each of sexual assault by penetration of a minor, molestation, and procuring an indecent act from a child. Three other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, who is now aged 15.

This was not his first brush with the law. In 2003 and 2005, he was jailed 18 months and four months respectively for theft offences.

CONCERNED ABOUT IMPACT ON STEPBROTHERS

The court heard on Monday that the man first married the girl’s mother in 2008, two years after the girl was born.

The couple then divorced in 2013 but remarried three years later. They had two sons together.

He first sexually abused the girl in June 2017, when they were living in a flat in Jurong East. He approached her while she was lying in bed alone in her grandmother’s room and directed her to perform an indecent act on him.

Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) Yvonne Poon and Eric Hu told the court that she complied because she regarded him as a father figure and felt that she could not refuse him.

She also did not understand her stepfather’s devious request but after he sexually abused her again later that night, she said that she did not want to do it anymore.

She did not tell anyone because she was scared that it would lead to her mother divorcing him again and breaking up the family. She was concerned about what this would do to her younger stepbrothers, having seen the impact of the first divorce.

Nothing untoward happened until May 2019 and she was lulled into thinking that the assaults would not happen again, the prosecution said.

Her mother, now aged 35, had stopped working a few months before to take care of the children. They had also moved to a flat in the Teck Whye area.

BOYFRIEND INTERVENED

On the morning of May 25, 2019, the stepfather woke her up after going through her mobile phone. He had read her text messages with her boyfriend, also aged 12, and found out that they had recently had sex.

The man was able to access the girl’s phone because she previously told him the passcode.

When he confronted her, she felt scared and embarrassed, not knowing how to respond.

He then asked her to do something for him or he would tell her mother. At a loss, she kept quiet before he asked her to take nude photos of herself and send them to him.

She followed his instructions so that he would not tell her mother that she had had sex with her boyfriend, the court heard.

While she was in the toilet, her stepfather sent her a text message asking her to smile and photograph her private parts. She took multiple photos and sent them to him over WhatsApp.

She cried in the toilet and left to find him standing at the kitchen entrance. He made her perform another sex act on him, molested her and took a lewd photo of her.

He then asked her to call her boyfriend over, told the younger boy to use a condom and passed one to him.

The two teenagers left the flat to attend a workshop. Afterwards, she asked her boyfriend to accompany her home, afraid to be alone with her stepfather.

In the morning, she told the boy what had happened but refused to tell her mother, repeating that she was afraid of the consequences.

Her boyfriend gave her a multipurpose tool and a small foldable knife, telling her to keep them.

Shortly after that, the stepfather sexually assaulted her once more and she contemplated using the foldable knife on herself because she wanted to die, the prosecution told the court.

Later that day, she asked to meet her boyfriend and broke down in front of him. Despite his urging, she continued refusing to tell her mother.

He then told her that he needed to help her and tell an adult what happened. Upon going through her mobile phone, he found out that she was in the obscene SG Nasi Lemak chat group.

Her stepfather had joined the group using her device and circulated three of her nude photos.

The younger boy later met the girl's aunt and handed over a copy of the photos in a portable thumbdrive.

The older woman then told the victim’s mother and confronted the man over a phone call on July 3, 2019. He was initially defensive and denied committing the offences, claiming that he was drunk and could not remember anything.

He was arrested on July 26 that same year.

When examined at the Institute of Mental Health, a psychiatrist found that he was likely intoxicated during his offences but still understood the nature of his wrongdoing. He did not have mental illnesses or an intellectual disability.

In sentencing him on Monday, High Court judge Dedar Singh Gill called it a "sad case" and that his actions had "violated the sanctity of his relationship with the victim".

"The circulation of her nude photos degraded her further," the judge added.

Those convicted of sexually assaulting a minor under 14 can be jailed for up to 20 years, and fined or caned.