Man who sexually assaulted stepdaughter despite wife's warning gets jail, caning

SINGAPORE — A Secondary 1 girl who was molested by her stepfather after he crept into her room at night immediately told her mother about the inappropriate touching.

The victim's mother warned her husband not to sleep together with the girl any more.

Three years later, the man preyed on the girl again, filming her in the shower and escalating the abuse to a more intrusive act.

The girl, who engaged in self-harm and had suicidal thoughts as a result of the abuse, eventually told her teacher about the assaults.

On May 22, the 36-year-old man was sentenced by the High Court to nine years and seven months' jail and 11 strokes of the cane.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault by penetration of a minor, a charge of aggravated outrage of modesty and a charge of voyeurism.

Another five charges — four for molesting the victim and one for possession of obscene films — were considered during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lynn Tan told the court the man had taken care of the victim since she was in kindergarten.

They went cycling and fishing together and when she was older, he did things for her, such as buying her a computer. She would help him with his food deliveries.

When she was eight years old, he married her mother and the couple had two sons.

In 2020, when the victim was between 12 and 13 years old, he entered her room and slept beside her.

She felt him touching her under her clothes and moved away from him.

After she saw him lying on her bed with his eyes closed, she went to the master bedroom to tell her mother what he had done. 

Her mother immediately confronted her husband, telling him that he was not to sleep together with the girl any more.

About three years after the incident, the girl, who was then 15, was showering when she spotted the man's mobile phone on the window ledge of the bathroom.

After she shouted at him, he quickly pulled away the phone and left. 

On July 25 that year, the girl was alone at home with the man when she asked him to massage her ankle, which she had injured playing sepak takraw the day before.

Jokingly asking if her thigh was also hurt, he repeatedly touched her thigh, while she kept pushing his hand away.

After she fell asleep following the massage, he sexually assaulted her.

He then pleaded with her not to tell anyone about the incident and promised not to repeat his actions.

However, the next day, he slapped the victim's buttocks and touched her arm and shoulders.

As a result of the abuse, the victim had suicidal thoughts and nightmares, and often went to her grandmother's home to avoid the man.

She repeatedly engaged in self-harm by cutting her arms with a penknife after the first incident in 2020, but she did not reveal the abuse when she saw a counsellor.

On Aug 21, 2023, the girl told her teacher that her stepfather had touched her. After much coaxing, she agreed to see the school counsellor. 

The counsellor arranged to meet the victim's aunts as the girl felt her mother might not believe her.

Eventually, the girl's mother and aunts confronted the man. The victim's mother then took her and the man to make a police report. 

The prosecution sought a jail term of between nine years and seven months and 10 years and three months, as well as 11 strokes of the cane.

The man's lawyer, Doraraj Sinnappan, had asked for seven years' jail and 11 strokes of the cane.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development investigated 2,011 cases of child abuse with high safety concerns in 2023, including 272 cases of sexual abuse.

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