Man jailed for molesting stepdaughter, 9

A 51-YEAR-OLD man who molested his young stepdaughter was jailed 18 months yesterday.

He was charged with two counts of outraging the victim's modesty in 2011. She was nine when the incidents happened. Neither can be named to protect the victim.

The accused married the victim's mother in 2009, and lived with her, the victim and her teenage siblings in their flat.

The accused, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, had some medical problems in 2011. He stopped working as a result and was often at home alone with the victim when she got home from school in the afternoons.

Sometime that year, the accused entered the victim's bedroom when she was watching TV and locked the door behind him. He then told her to take off her shirt. When she refused, he scolded her and hit her with a cane.

He then forcefully removed her shirt and the rest of her clothes and molested her for about 10 minutes. He molested her another time when the victim was alone at home with him.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development made a police report about the abuse in October 2013.

oliviaho@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 9, 2015.
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