Man jailed 23 years for sexually abusing girlfriend's daughters aged 10 and 17
SINGAPORE — Over three years, a man sexually abused his girlfriend's 17-year-old daughter before turning to molest her 10-year-old sister and escalating the acts to sexual assault.
Both girls "suffered alone" and in silence, not knowing the other had been subjected to "similar deplorable acts", the prosecution said. The younger girl was found with self-harm marks on her wrist and forearm when the abuse was uncovered.
The 53-year-old offender, who cannot be named due to court orders protecting the sisters' identities, was jailed for 23 years on Monday (June 28). Of this, six months was in lieu of caning as he is above 50 and cannot be caned by law.
The court heard that the man met the victims' mother in 2010 at a coffee shop. A week after this, he was introduced to her two daughters.
The man and the mother began dating, and the accused provided financially for the victims' mother, who used part of the money on her daughters.
As the girls' mother was unable to take care of them, they were admitted into an approved home and were given home leave only on some occasions. Whenever they were given home leave, they stayed with their mother and the accused.
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In November 2012, the girls' mother gave birth to another child fathered by the accused. The child was also given to a home in 2013 as the girls' mother could not care for the child.
The accused began molesting the older daughter in 2015. He turned to the younger daughter, who was 10 at the time, in 2017 when she stayed with the family while on home leave.
He began by molesting her when she came out of the shower and moved to molesting her while she was asleep. These offences progressed to penetrative acts, the prosecution said.
On one occasion, the accused persistently preyed on the girl despite the girl saying no.
He tried to rape her but was unsuccessful, and remembered "that it would be difficult" to do so with young girls as "he has a young daughter of his own", court documents stated.
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The offences came to light in May 2019, when the victim told a school researcher that the accused had touched her.
The school, as well as officers from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), were notified. They had some difficulty locating the victim, as she had stopped going to school and was seldom at the family flat.
Officers managed to locate her in August 2019 and took her to a social service office, with a police report filed later.
Investigations into the case uncovered the sexual abuse against the victim's older sister by the accused. He molested her while she was cooking in the kitchen and told her not to tell her mother.
She complied as she feared having to return to the children's home after escaping from it, a fact that the accused knew.
The police arrested the accused on Aug 15, 2019.
The younger victim was assessed in a hospital where the findings were consistent with her description of what happened. She was also found to have multiple blade marks on her wrist and forearm from self-harm.
She told a psychiatrist that she cut herself to relieve her stress over friendship difficulties and when she recalled what the accused did to her.
She said that she felt disgusted, sad, angry and helpless during the incidents of sexual abuse and remained quiet during the assault.
The psychiatrist stated that the girl's anger and sadness continued "long after the incident until she disclosed the matter to a counsellor with whom she felt safe".
The victim also said that the accused had shown her pornographic videos on multiple occasions.
The accused was examined at the Institute of Mental Health and disclosed that he had "entertained erotic thoughts" of the girl for a year.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault by penetration of a minor and one charge of molestation. Another nine charges including attempted rape were considered in sentencing.
Prosecutors called the accused "a persistent sexual offender who repeatedly exploited the trust placed in him as a father figure, and sexually abused two young girls for his own perverse gratification". CNA
