Man gets jail and caning for raping girlfriend's daughter, who had already been raped by her stepfather
SINGAPORE: A man was sentenced to 10 years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane on Thursday (Sep 28) for raping his girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter, despite knowing that the teenager
had already been raped by her stepfather when she was 10.
The girl suffered suicidal thoughts and self-harmed after the sexual abuse by the two men.
The 44-year-old second perpetrator, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim, pleaded guilty to one count of rape. Another four charges were considered in sentencing.
The court heard that the girl's biological father ceased contact with her in 2016 or 2017.
Between 2017 and 2020, she was sexually abused and raped by her new stepfather.
The man was sentenced to 18 years' jail in June this year.
In early 2020, when the girl and her mother moved to a new flat, they met the accused, who was their neighbour.
Eventually, the man began dating the victim's mother, and moved in with them.
In June 2020, he sexually assaulted the girl in the master bedroom while her mother was asleep next to them.
This was the first of sexual activities that followed, the prosecutor said, and the victim consented but "felt disgusted".
She had told the accused about being previously sexually abused by her stepfather.
In July 2020, when the man was home alone with the girl, he initiated sexual contact with her.
He raped her without a condom - an aggravating factor according to the prosecution - before going back to watching a movie in the living room.
The sexual activities came to a stop only in October 2021, when the girl's mother saw the accused lying on top of the girl in an intimate position.
A police report was subsequently lodged and the man was arrested that same month.
The prosecutor sought 10 years' jail and six strokes of the cane, saying the man had abused his position as a father figure to the victim.
He also had past convictions dating from 1996 for offences like attempted house trespass and theft.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
Defence lawyer Joshua Phang sought eight years' jail and six strokes of the cane instead, saying his client was remorseful and did not want to put the victim through another trial.
While he initially disputed whether his client had a "father figure" role in the victim's life, placing emphasis instead on his romantic relationship with the victim's mother, the lawyer eventually dropped this argument.
He said his client did not wish to prolong the case and possibly put the victim through a hearing.
The judge said the victim came from a troubled past, having earlier suffered almost three years of sexual abuse by her stepfather.
Despite knowing this, the accused persisted to take advantage of her vulnerable mental state to satisfy his own sexual urges, leaving her "irreversibly scarred", the judge said.
Pointing to the defence lawyer's mitigation that the sexual intercourse was "consensual", the judge said this suggestion was "expressly found to be generally irrelevant" by the Court of Appeal in another case, save for exceptional cases.
