Man gets jail, caning for raping 12-year-old girl after plying her with alcohol
The entrance of the Supreme Court in Singapore.
SINGAPORE: A man who raped a 12-year-old girl after she ran away from home was sentenced on Tuesday (May 28) to 10 years' jail and six strokes of the cane.
The 39-year-old man, whose name was redacted from court documents, had known the child since she was seven years old as she was the daughter of his brother's long-term girlfriend.
The rapist pleaded guilty to one charge of raping a minor, with another two charges of raping and sexually assaulting her taken into consideration.
The court heard that the rapist, a divorcee with two children, was a part-time musician in 2015, when he committed the crimes.
He stayed at his brother's home, which the victim would visit at times. He became closer to the child in mid-2015, often chatting with her over the phone without her mother's knowledge.
On Sep 21, 2015, the girl ran away from home. After lodging a missing persons report, her mother went with the rapist to look for her daughter.
They found her in Boon Keng and police officers told the girl's mother to take her to the police station the next day for an interview.
However, the girl told the rapist that she did not want to go home with her mother. He told the girl's mother that they were going to McDonald's, and the mother said she would join them later.
However, she could not find the pair at McDonald's, and could not reach the rapist on his phone, as it was switched off.
On the night of Sep 22, 2015, the man took the girl to his office, where they drank beer together.
They lay down on a mattress and engaged in sexual acts before the man raped the girl without a condom.
They slept in the office that night, and had sex the next morning, even as the girl's mother lodged a police report against the man.
Her boyfriend found his brother at the office at about 11am and was shocked to see the girl and him drinking beer together, said Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew.
He suspected that the pair had engaged in sexual activity after noticing love bites on the girl's neck. He told his girlfriend that he had found her daughter and called the police.
The victim revealed what had happened after he was taken to the police station.
The prosecution said the case was a serious one involving the sexual exploitation of a young girl by a man akin to an uncle to her.
"The accused snuck the young victim away, plied her with alcohol and ultimately sexually exploited her," said the prosecutor.
"He abused the trust reposed in him by both the victim and her mother, and violated a young girl who was too immature to exercise proper judgment about these sexual acts."
The prosecution had asked for 10 years' jail instead of 12 years, in view of the totality principle, which the court follows in order not to impose a crushing overall sentence.
The rapist is currently serving a jail sentence of seven years and six months for drug offences. His new sentence will begin after he finishes serving the sentence for the drug offences, which began from December 2015.
