SINGAPORE: A 28-year-old man was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years’ jail and six strokes of the cane on Monday (Sep 9) for sexually abusing his relative when she had been seven or eight years old.
He was eighteen to 19 years of age at the time and watched pornography several times per week until he started to consider performing sex functions on the victim, the court heard.
He would physically abuse her possibly at a staircase getting before taking her to a shop downstairs to buy snacks, or even at home when nobody else was close to or looking.
The man cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim, who might be now 16.
He pleaded responsible to a charge each of sexual penetration of a minor and using felony force to outrage her modesty.
Another six fees were taken into consideration intended for sentencing. These include possession of obscene films, sexual exploitation of a child and sex penetration of a minimal.
The court heard that the sufferer was the offender’s paternal cousin. Sometime in 2012 and 2013, the lady went to stay with her grandfather as the lady “did not receive much care and concern from the girl parents”, the prosecutor said.
Because the girl stayed with her cousins, she a new close relationship using them, including the offender.
According to court documents, the offender began watching pornography at the age of twelve and would do this several times a week in the computer or their phone.
Within the period when the target was staying at his flat, the offender continued to watch porno and began fantasising about performing sexual intercourse acts on the target based on the pornography he had watched.
In the first occasion, the woman was home with the offender and their own grandparents when the offender asked her to accompany him downstairs to buy snacks.
He took her to a staircase getting and exposed himself to her before driving her to perform a sex act upon him. The target complied with his instructions without saying everything, as she did not know what was going on.
The particular victim felt frightened, and the offender knew that she was too young to understand what was happening. He then took her to some shop downstairs in which he bought snacks plus told her not to inform anyone about what occurred.
Over a period of about six months, the offender continued to physically abuse the girl on at least five events, asking her to do different sex functions on him.
He knew that will his cousin is at primary school, but he “continued in order to commit these will act as he watched porn material and was interested in engaging in these acts”, said the prosecutor.
He based his actions on what he discovered from watching pornography, she said.
Sometime in 2013, the victim transferred out and went back to stay with her family, so the culprit could no longer commit the sexual misuse against her.
The incidents came to light only in June 2020, after the victim attempted suicide due to an unrelated quarrel with her boyfriend. She has been admitted to the Company of Mental Health insurance and later told an additional cousin what the offender had done. This cousin took the particular victim to lodge a police review and the offender had been arrested.
As a result of the sexual misuse, the victim felt emotional, disgusted plus unwanted, the court heard. She also engaged in self-harm.
Defence lawyer Raphael Louis told the court that the prosecution’s submitted sentence has been fair.
“The offences are serious. Although my client was younger, but it’s still serious, ” this individual said, adding which he agreed with the prosecution’s submissions of eight-and-a-half years’ jail.
The prosecutor added that she has been asking for at least eight-and-a-half to 10 years’ jail.
The particular judge said he had considered the defence’s mitigation – which was not elaborated on in open court – as well as the proven fact that the offender has been pleading guilty.
He ordered the offender’s phone, which had been seized plus found to consist of obscene materials, to be forfeited to the law enforcement for disposal.