SINGAPORE: A man has been jailed for 11-and-a-half years on Monday (Aug 22) just for sexually abusing his stepdaughter and sister-in-law from the ages associated with eight and nine respectively.
He told the young girls that he had been touching them from “family love”. They kept quiet regarding the abuse, which happened from 2014 to 2015 and only reached light last year.
The offender cannot be named as the identity of the victims is protected by a fun order.
He or she pleaded guilty to 1 charge of irritated sexual assault plus two charges of outraging the modesty of a minor.
Nine more charges for sexual accidents against children were considered for sentencing.
The man resided in a flat in Bedok with his stepdaughter – identified within court documents as V2 – and V2’s mother. He and V2’s mother married in 2014, plus divorced in 2016.
ABUSE OF STEPDAUGHTER
The court heard the fact that offender started abusing his stepdaughter within 2014 or 2015, when she was eight to 10 years old.
As the girl’s mother has been often out at the job during the day, the offender, who was then unemployed, would be in the flat alone.
He’d wait for V2 to return from school, sit close to her and touch her thighs while she used the girl phone. This progressed to touching the girl chest.
V2 felt disgusted plus uncomfortable during these works, but her stepfather assured her it had been part of “family love” and told her never to tell anyone, court papers stated.
On a single occasion, the man also asked V2 to touch his private parts and she did as instructed.
Within 2015, the man boomed to epic proportions his abuse by entering V2’s bedroom and touching parts of her entire body, including her personal parts.
He also kissed the girl lips. The entire event lasted half an hour, and V2 kept silent the entire time.
He continued to the touch the girl in this manner nearly on a daily basis, until he and his wife made a decision to divorce, and V2 moved out of the flat with her mother.
ABUSE OF SISTER-IN-LAW
The particular man’s sister-in-law — identified in court documents as V1 : was the stepsister associated with his wife. Their abuse of V1 started in 2014, when the girl was about 9.
Before the separation and divorce, V1 frequently visited V2 at the level to play video games watching television, as they resided near each other.
On several of these events, V2’s mother had not been at home and the offender was the only adult around. He would sit down next to the girls while they played games.
He eventually started touching V1 on her waist and thigh frequently. These actions became more intrusive over time.
On one occasion in 2014, V1 decided to practise meditation inside V2’s room while the offender, V2 and V2’s mother sitting outside in the family room.
The man went into the room, asked V1 to keep her eye closed and told her that what he or she was going to do following would help the girl with her deep breathing.
He then touched her private parts. V1 was unpleasant, but did not prevent the man as she trusted him and believed that his actions would help her.
The person repeated this when V1 tried to meditate in the flat on another occasion sometime after Aug 8, 2014.
He or she told V1 to follow along with him into the master bedroom. There, he touched her private parts and sexually attacked her.
V1 felt pain, yet did not stop the person as she nevertheless trusted him. This individual eventually stopped when V1 said the lady needed to use the toilet.
The offender continued to molest the girl’s private parts when the lady visited the level at other times.
He repeatedly explained to V1 that he was touching her “for therapeutic purposes and family love”, court documents mentioned.
V1 did not react adversely because she trusted him, and she did not know then that the actual man was carrying out to her was wrong.
DISCOVERY OF OFFENCES
In 2018, V1 attended a sex training class where she learnt what constituted inappropriate behaviour.
She realised that will what the offender acquired done to her has been wrong, and spent the next two hours crying in school.
But she failed to tell her family regarding the abuse as the girl was afraid they would be angry that will she had not told them earlier, or would not believe her.
It was only in February 2021 that V1 disclosed the abuse during an argument with her father. She had been taken to make a law enforcement report.
Further investigations revealed that V2 had also been abused by the culprit.
The man had been diagnosed with paedophilic condition towards girls under 14, and evaluated to be at moderate risk of reoffending.
Deputy General public Prosecutors Ng Yiwen and Wong Shiau Yin sought 11 to 12 years’ jail and nine months’ jail in lieu of caning, as the culprit is 50.
They cited the particular man’s exploitation of young and vulnerable victims, his abuse of trust and his premeditation, arguing which he used “trickery” to abuse V1 in the privacy of the master suite.
Defence advice Gregory Fong asked for a shorter sentence of nine-and-a-half to 10 years’ prison for his customer.
Justice Pang Khang Chau enforced a sentence that included six months’ jail in lieu of caning.
The consequence for aggravated sex assault by penetration is between 8 and 20 years’ jail and at least 12 strokes from the cane.
The penalty for outraging the modesty of the child under 14 is up to five years’ jail, a fine, caning or any combination of these punishments.