In sentencing the man, Justice Dedar Singh Gill took into account the harm caused to the victim and the man’s abuse of his position of trust. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: A 32-year-old man, who sexually abused his then-girlfriend’s teenage daughter for more than a year, was sentenced to 11 years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane on Thursday (Feb 13).
He pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault by penetration. Five other charges, including two counts of rape, were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Prosecutors told the High Court that because of the man’s actions, the victim – who was 13 to 14 years old at the time of the offences – suffered in school.
Once a helpful and participative student with leadership qualities, she became withdrawn and had poor attendance, eventually dropping out of school when she was 16 years old due to her inability to focus.
In sentencing the man, Justice Dedar Singh Gill took into account the harm caused to the victim and his abuse of his position of trust.
The man, who had an online business, cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim, who is now 18 years old.
From mid-2018, the victim lived with her mother, her younger brother, the man and the man’s mother at a rental flat. The victim treated the man as her stepfather.
The man first raped her between March 26 and June 11 in 2020 when she was 13 years old.
After she entered the flat to deliver drinks to him, he shut the front door and ordered her to remove her clothes.
When she refused, he forcibly took off her clothes, pushed her against the wall and sexually violated her.
He then pulled the victim into the toilet and forced her to perform oral sex on him. He raped her again in the living room.
The man warned her not to tell anyone about the incident.
One night between Jan 1 and Feb 11 in 2021, the victim, who was sleeping on the upper deck of a bunk bed in the living room, woke up when she felt the man touching her.
He warned her to keep quiet and sexually violated her as she tried to move away.
The victim did not dare to tell anyone about what the man had done to her because she was scared and did not think people would believe her, said the prosecutors.
She also felt conflicted as the man was her mother’s boyfriend at the time.
Affected by his actions, the girl started having issues in school.
She was a member of the school team for her co-curricular activity but started missing practices from end-2020 onwards.
After a classmate shared his family problems with her, she eventually summoned the courage to tell her teacher about the abuse on Sept 1, 2021.
The man was arrested on the same day. He has been on bail since Oct 1, 2021.
Meanwhile, the victim had to endure multiple relocations.
After she was discharged from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital on Sept 10, 2021, she stayed in an interim placement and assessment centre.
She was then moved to The Salvation Army Gracehaven Children’s Home on Nov 27, 2021.
Throughout this period, she was not allowed to have unsupervised contact with her family members.
She absconded multiple times from Gracehaven.
On April 4, 2023, a decision was made to discharge her from Gracehaven, and safety plans were put in place for her to live with her maternal uncle instead.
She completed her secondary school education and went on to pursue further studies but dropped out of the course shortly after in February 2023 as she was unable to focus.
Instead, she started working to support her mother, her younger brother and herself.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Wong Woon Kwong and Jocelyn Teo sought a sentence of at least 12 to 13 years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane.
The man’s lawyer, Mr Prakash Otharam, asked for leniency, saying that his client had spared the victim the ordeal of having to testify in court by pleading guilty. - The Straits Times/ANN
