Man, 56, charged in court for having consensual sex with his adult daughter

SINGAPORE - In a rare case, a man on Wednesday (June 2) was charged in court with having consensual sex with his daughter who was then 30 years old.

They allegedly had sexual intercourse while in a flat on May 17, 2019.

He was also charged with attempted incest, after he tried to have sex with her again on Oct 20 that year.

The 56-year-old Singaporean and his daughter cannot be named due to a gag order. The court heard that he intends to admit to his offences on June 21.

His daughter, now 32, was not charged on Wednesday and the outcome of her case was not disclosed in court papers.

It was an offence under the law then for a man to take part in consensual sexual activities with close relatives. Section 376G of the Penal Code now makes clear that a woman can also be a perpetrator.

The last reported case of incest was when a man was dealt with in court in January 2011 over what was then the first case of consensual incest in Singapore.

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A plumber, who was then 47 years old, was sentenced to three years' jail for having sex with his daughter in 2008.

The daughter, who was 20 at the time of the offence , was placed on a year's probation in January 2012 for having sex with her father.

In the latest case, the court heard that the man was under a remission order when he allegedly committed the offences. He had been released from prison in 2019 for offences not stated in court documents.

As part of the order, he was supposed to stay out of trouble from May 14 that year to Jan 11 this year. He is accused of breaching it when he allegedly had sex with his daughter.

Offenders convicted of incest can be jailed for up to five years.

If convicted of having sex with his daughter, the man could spend an additional 606 days behind bars, which is the remaining duration of his remission order.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.