SINGAPORE: After his wife went to jail, a man began sexually abusing and raping his 10-year-old stepdaughter who was entrusted to him.
Even when his wife was released from prison, the 50-year-old man continued to sexually abuse the child while her mother was asleep.
He was sentenced to 18 years’ jail on Tuesday (Jun 27). He cannot be caned as the punishment is not carried out for those aged 50 and above.
He pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration, with another three charges taken into consideration.
The court heard that the man married the victim’s mother in Batam. In September 2017, the family moved into a flat in Singapore.
A few weeks after they moved in, the victim’s mother was sentenced to 14 weeks’ jail for reasons not revealed in court documents.
Just days after his wife started serving her jail term, the offender started to prey on his stepdaughter.
When she attempted to physically and verbally resist his sexual assaults, he told her not to tell anyone or he would carry out more sexual acts against her.
That same month, the man raped his stepdaughter, who tried to push him away but could not as he was larger than her.
The victim felt pain, bled and cried.
The sexual abuse continued between 2017 and 2020, even after the victim’s mother had returned home.
The victim did not say anything as she was afraid of her stepfather’s threats.
It was only in October 2021, when the victim’s mother called the police for an unrelated incident, that the offences were discovered through investigations.
The victim’s mother confronted her husband. He initially denied it, but later admitted to the abuse. He offered a monthly sum of S$500 to the victim and apologised, asking them not to report it to the police.
The police took up the case, and the victim told a doctor at a Child Guidance Clinic that she had had suicidal thoughts for many years since 2017.
She said she did not like and had to endure what was done to her, and reported recurrent flashbacks. She said she would also feel anxious and tend to be more careful about men in public.
She freezes if there are men nearby, as she fears being molested. She also said she had “feelings of anger” for not disclosing what happened earlier.
Her mother has since divorced the rapist.
The prosecution called for 17 to 20 years’ jail, with another 10 to 12 months in lieu of the mandatory minimum of 24 strokes of the cane.
They said the offender exploited the trust reposed in him as the victim’s stepfather. He also showed a pattern of premeditated abuse, and had exposed the girl to the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
CNA has contacted the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on what the victim’s mother was jailed for.