Man gets 15 years' jail, caning for sexually abusing 4-year-old daughter

Man gets 15 years' jail, caning for sexually abusing 4-year-old daughter
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SINGAPORE - A 33-year-old man who showed pornographic videos to his four-year-old biological daughter before he sexually assaulted her was sentenced to 15 years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane on Monday (March 8).

The man, who was estranged from the victim's mother at the time, had committed the sexual offences when the girl was staying with him on weekends between March and May 2015, the High Court heard.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault by penetration and one charge of outrage of modesty. Five other charges, including three for showing obscene objects to a young person, were taken into consideration.

The court heard that in October 2015, the girl underwent surgery to remove plastic toys she had inserted into her genitalia. The reason for her actions was not revealed in open court.

The man cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim, who is now 10 years old.

The victim's parents got married in December 2009 and lived with his parents.

When the marriage broke down sometime between 2012 and 2013, the victim's mother decided to move out of the flat with the girl, their only child.

As part of the terms of the separation, the woman had custody of the victim, but the girl would stay overnight with the man at his parents' flat on weekends.

The man first sexually assaulted the victim in March 2015 during a weekend stayover.

He was watching a pornographic video on his mobile phone when the girl entered his bedroom after her shower.

When she asked what he was watching, he showed her his phone and they watched the video together.

After a scene of a man performing a sex act on a woman, the man performed the same act on his daughter.

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"After the incident, the victim felt sad whenever she thought about what the accused did, and she asked herself why the accused had treated her in that way," Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Lim told the court.

The man continued to sexually abuse his daughter over the next few weeks. Sometime between April and May 2015, when victim was about four to five years old, he showed her a scene of a woman performing oral sex and told her to "follow the video". The girl did as she was told.

After the last incident, the victim's mother noted that the girl was emotional and dull and not her usual happy self after she returned from her stayover.

She questioned the girl, who told her mother what her father had asked her to do.

When confronted, the man initially denied it, but eventually admitted he had asked the girl to perform oral sex on him.

He promised not to do such things again and asked the woman not to go to the police.

The woman decided against making a police report. She tried to prevent the victim from seeing the man, but later relented when he asked to see the girl.

The offences came to light four years later, in July 2019, when the woman sought help from a family service centre for the victim's behavioural issues.

During a meeting with the case worker, she revealed that the man had sexually assaulted the victim.

The woman lodged a police report after being advised to do so. The man was arrested the same day.

Defence counsel Chong Xin Yi noted that the abuse stopped in 2015. She said his daughter still misses him and has sent notes and drawings to him in jail.

In sentencing, Justice Valerie Thean said the man's abuse of his position of trust in relation to his very young biological daughter was an aggravating factor.

This article was first published in The Straits TimesPermission required for reproduction

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