SINGAPORE: A man who was a pastor when he repeatedly molested a girl with severe specific language impairment was sentenced to three years’ jail on May 6.
The 72-year-old man had pleaded guilty in April to a molestation charge. Two other charges were considered during his sentencing.
Details about him and the church cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim.
Her condition is a developmental disorder that affects her ability to understand and use spoken and written language, despite having no hearing or intellectual problems.
Before handing down the sentence, Deputy Principal District Judge Ong Chin Rhu said the case involved a serious abuse of trust and the man’s offence involved skin-to-skin contact with the girl.
She also noted that the offender was a pastor of the church which the victim had attended.
A woman, who identified herself as the man’s friend, told The Straits Times outside the courtroom that he is no longer a pastor at the church.
In earlier proceedings, the court heard that the girl’s mother had frequently sought advice from the man on family and spiritual matters.
The victim began accompanying her mother to church daily during her school holidays.
The man later asked for the girl to help him with paperwork and administrative duties in his office.
He started committing the offences between April 16, 2015, and April 15, 2016, when she was 12 years old.
He molested the girl for the first time by touching her chest over her clothes.
On another occasion, she was in his office when he slipped his hand underneath her top and touched her bare skin.
A few weeks later, the man molested her again by touching her private parts over her clothes.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Adelle Tai told the court in April: “Following the first incident... the accused began giving the victim S$20 weekly. On certain weeks, the accused would give her $40.
“The victim understood these frequent payments as consideration for her silence regarding the offences, though this was not explicitly communicated by the accused to the victim.”
From then until 2019, he continued targeting the girl, performing acts including touching her chest and private parts. By then, she had received around $2,000 from him.
The victim stopped going to the church regularly in early 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
She did not tell anyone about her ordeal, as the man had told her to keep it a secret.
But in early 2022, the girl was praying when she suddenly experienced flashbacks of the acts that the man had committed against her.
Unable to endure the distress any longer, she confided in her sister and mother on Sept 13 that year.
The victim alerted the police two days later, and she sought medical assistance at a hospital.
A medical report stated that she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder associated with a two- to three-year history of increased anxious mood, recurrent thoughts about past molestation incidents, nightmares and avoidant behaviours.
The man was arrested on Dec 8, 2025. - The Straits Times/ANN
