Man receives 24 months in prison and three strokes of the cane for sexually assaulting his girlfriend’s 13-year-old daughter

SINGAPORE – A 34-year-old man was sentenced to 24 months in prison and three strokes of the cane on Wednesday (May 15) for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in his bedroom.

The man’s name cannot be revealed to protect the victim’s identity.

He pleaded guilty to one count of insulting modesty and two counts of motor vehicle theft and driving without a valid license.

Two other charges of a similar nature were taken into account when sentencing in court.

WHAT HAPPENED

At the time of the crime, the man was 26 years old and the victim was 13 years old. She is now 21 years old.

On December 8, 2020, the victim filed a police report alleging that she was sexually abused by the man at his home sometime between October and November 2016.

Court documents showed the victim’s parents separated sometime in 2006 and her mother began a relationship with the man in 2012.

The girl’s mother later moved in with the man and shared a bedroom with him.

The victim would occasionally sleep over at his house on weekends. She would sleep in the same bed as her mother and the man.

Sometime between October and November 2016, while the victim was lying in the same bed and using her cell phone, she felt the man’s hand touch her left inner thigh and move toward her private area.

She tried to shake his hand away, but to no avail.

According to court documents, the man believed the victim was asleep when he sexually assaulted her. The victim’s mother was still sleeping at this time and the victim did not dare to wake her up because she was afraid.

When the man did the same thing later that same night, the girl immediately pushed his hand away with both hands.

Then she got out of bed, sat in the corner of the bedroom, and didn’t return to bed for the rest of the night.

She told her mother about the incident, but her mother refused to believe her and decided to stay with the man.

Over the years, the victim continued to have flashbacks and nightmares about the incident and finally reported it to police in December 2020, approximately four years after the incident.

OTHER INJURIES

On Wednesday, the man also pleaded guilty to two other crimes: motor vehicle theft and driving without a license. In October last year, he drove away on a motorcycle he found in Bukit Batok with the key still in the ignition.

He drove the vehicle for 15 minutes before parking it in a multi-level parking lot near Lompang Road and throwing the helmet and keys into nearby bushes.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Ying Min told the court that the man had also been convicted of rioting and theft and had previously been sentenced to reformative education.

The man’s lawyer, Ms Shirin Chew of Pro Bono SG, pleaded for the court’s leniency, saying he was supporting his father, who was suffering from a stroke and “regrets his actions”.

However, while imposing the sentence, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz noted that the man had left a lasting impression on the victim as his actions caused her psychological harm many years after the crime was committed.