Court acquits mother and lover of sexual assault against teenage girl during ritual massages and showers

SINGAPORE: A woman who was accused of helping her lover sexually abuse her daughter when the girl was between the ages of 10 and 16 was acquitted by the High Court on Tuesday (Sep 30).

The Singaporean woman, now 66, was cleared of all charges along with her then-lover, a Singaporean man now aged 74.

Justice Pang Khang Chau found that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

He also found that the complainant's evidence was not sufficiently credible and convincing to meet the "unusually convincing" standard.

This was due to several inconsistencies and shifts in her evidence, said Justice Pang.

AT TRIAL

The pair went on trial in 2021, with the man facing 15 charges, including sexual assault and molestation, and the woman contesting 13 charges.

Most of these were for conspiring with the man to commit the sexual abuse, except for the last charge of showing pornography to her daughter herself.

The girl was the youngest of four children and lived with her parents and siblings in a flat.

The man had a clinic at a temple and her mother used to take her there, where the man would massage both the girl and her mother, according to the prosecution's case.

After the man's clinic at the temple closed down, he allegedly began giving massages to the girl at her flat.

The prosecutors alleged that the pair began sexually abusing the girl during these massages at the flat.

They alleged that the man sexually assaulted the girl when she was in Primary 5 in 2012 under the guise of "treating" her irregular menstruation.

The man was accused of performing other sex acts on the girl between 2012 and 2017.

The couple was also accused of showing the girl pornography and engaging in sexual intercourse in front of her.

The man was accused of sexually assaulting the girl during ritual showers from 2017, which were supposedly to rid her of evil spirits.

The complainant, who is now 24, lodged a police report in November 2017 and the pair was arrested.

The man was defended by Mr Edwin Lee, Mr Charles Ng and Ms Niyanta Chowdhury from Allyed Gateway, while Ms Renee Oei and Ms Jheong Siew Yin from Constellation Law represented the woman.

THE JUDGE'S FINDINGS

On Tuesday, Justice Pang said his decision was to acquit both accused persons of all the charges against them, saying he essentially did not find the complainant's evidence to be sufficiently credible and convincing.

He said it would be unsafe to convict the pair of the charges.

The prosecution had argued that the case for some of the charges was corroborated by an admission the man made in a police statement.

However, the man said he did not admit to sexually assaulting the girl during this statement, and that what he had conveyed to the police officer was that he had used his finger to clean off discharge around the girl's private parts.

Having heard the testimony of both defendants and the investigation officer and having seen the photo of the demonstration the man did at the police station interview room, the judge said that he accepted that there was reasonable doubt as to whether the man and the police officer were "speaking at cross purposes" such that it would be unsafe for the judge to treat the statement as an admission.

This finding means that there is a lack of corroboration of the complainant's evidence, so it has to be assessed against the "unusually convincing standard".

"I find her evidence did not meet this standard, due to several inconsistencies and shifts in her evidence," said Justice Pang.

In particular, he noted that a situation of alleged penetration according to the complainant lasted around five seconds.

"In my view, this is more consistent with the (man) attempting to clean off discharge around her (private parts) than trying to (sexually assault her)," said the judge.

"To be clear, I'm not saying there was actual penetration, but that the complainant's view that she felt penetration lasting around five seconds is more consistent with the (man's) explanation."

"I found persuasive the (man's) explanation of the procedure involved in the ritual shower and why it would have been unlikely, given the cramped condition of the bathroom and the implements he was holding in his hands, for him to (sexually assault) the complainant while she was squatting down in the bathroom during the ritual shower," said Justice Pang.

He also accepted his explanation that the complainant could not have seen the man performing a sex act on her, and she could not have been sure that that was what actually occurred.

For certain charges under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA), Justice Pang said he was persuaded by the defence that there is reasonable doubt as to whether the events occurred before the complainant's 16th birthday.

Therefore, the charges fell outside the scope of the provision under the CYPA under which the charge is brought, said the judge.

As for a charge of showing pornography to the complainant, the man disputed her evidence. He said he had not shown her the pornographic video on his phone, but that it was the girl who took his phone and looked through the videos herself.

"In this regard, viewing the conflicting evidence of the complainant and the (man), I am not persuaded that the charge has been proven beyond reasonable doubt," said Justice Pang.

Since the man's charges were not found to have been made out, the judge found that the first 12 charges against the complainant's mother were similarly not made out, since they were for conspiring with the man to commit the various acts against her daughter.

The woman's 13th charge was for showing pornography to the girl when she was in Primary 4.

The woman accepted that she had shown porn to the girl when she was in Secondary 2, as part of her sex education.

This was because her daughter had decided to withdraw from sexual education classes in school.

However, the date did not relate to the time period in the charge, and the woman denied showing her daughter porn when she was in Primary 4.

The judge accepted the defence's arguments that the complainant's recollection of the time period appeared to be unreliable, and so found that the charge was not proven.

The man appeared relieved after the hearing, while the woman maintained a worried expression throughout the court session.

The prosecution said it had to consider whether to file a notice of appeal, which it can do within two weeks.

The pair was free to go in the meantime.

The penalties for sexual assault by penetration of a minor are a jail term of between eight and 20 years, with at least 12 strokes of the cane.

The penalties for sexual exploitation of a young person are a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.

The punishment for using criminal force to outrage a person's modesty is a maximum of two years' jail, a fine, caning, or any combination of these penalties.