SINGAPORE: After she was raped by her father, a 15-year-old girl ran to a neighbourhood police centre (NPC) while he was taking a shower.
When the man went looking for her and saw her sitting inside the police station, he knew the game was up.
He returned home to change into a pair of jeans, walked to the police station and surrendered.
On Monday (Sept 7), the man, who is now 51 years old, pleaded guilty to a charge of rape, a charge of outrage of modesty and an unrelated charge of criminal breach of trust (CBT).
Two other CBT charges and a charge of voyeurism for taking photos of the victim’s chest will be considered when he is sentenced on Nov 2.
The CBT charges relate to $23,000 he had embezzled from his employer between January and June 2023 when he was the general manager at the company.
The misappropriation came to light following his arrest on Aug 11, 2024, over the sexual assaults.
He has past convictions for various offences such as cheating and CBT, and was last sentenced to five years’ corrective training in 2009 for moneylending offences.
On Monday (Sept 7), Deputy Public Prosecutor Eric Hu told the High Court the victim was physically abused growing up.
On numerous occasions he would pull her hair, hit her with a clothes hanger, and cane her multiple times, even for slight infractions.
The victim believed it was normal for him to use violence against her, said the prosecutor.
On the night of Aug 10, 2024, the man confronted her about the cleanliness of their home.
He flew into a rage, swept all the items on the dining table onto the floor, and told her to go to her room.
He dismantled the CCTV cameras in his flat before he went to bed.
The next morning, the man went to the victim’s room to wake her up.
When she did not respond, he lifted one end of the blanket covering her body then molested and raped her.
The girl was shocked but did not react because she was afraid it would anger him, said the prosecutor.
While the man was in the shower after the attack, the victim ran to the police station and reported the incident to the counter staff.
When the man discovered she was not in the flat, he walked past the NPC while looking for her, and saw her sitting inside.
Investigations found he had taken two obscene photos of her between 2021 and 2023, and he had embezzled money meant to be paid to his employer for event installation works.
The prosecution sought a jail term of between 13 years and eight months, and 14 years and nine months, with an additional 18 to 24 weeks’ jail in lieu of nine to 11 strokes of the cane.
The man cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old.
The man’s lawyer, Gregory Fong, asked for a jail term of 13 years and five months. - The Straits Times/ANN
