Jail and caning for man who sexually assaulted 7-year-old cousin after watching pornography

SINGAPORE: A 28-year-old man was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years' jail and six strokes of the cane on Monday (Sep 9) for sexually abusing his cousin when she was seven or eight years old.

He was 18 to 19 years old at the time and watched pornography several times a week until he started to think about performing sex acts on the victim, the court heard. 

He would sexually abuse her either at a staircase landing before taking her to a shop downstairs to buy snacks, or at home when no one else was around or looking.

The man cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim, who is now 16.

He pleaded guilty to a charge each of sexual penetration of a minor and using criminal force to outrage her modesty.

Another six charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. These include possession of obscene films, sexual exploitation of a child and sexual penetration of a minor.

The court heard that the victim was the offender's paternal cousin. Sometime in 2012 and 2013, she went to stay with her grandfather as she "did not receive much care and concern from her parents", the prosecutor said.

As the girl stayed with her cousins, she had a close relationship with them, including the offender.

According to court documents, the offender began watching pornography at the age of 12 and would do so several times a week on his computer or his phone.

In the period when the victim was staying at his flat, the offender continued to watch porn and began fantasising about performing sex acts on the victim based on the pornography he had watched.

On the first occasion, the girl was home with the offender and their grandparents when the offender asked her to accompany him downstairs to buy snacks.

He took her to a staircase landing and exposed himself to her before forcing her to perform a sex act on him. The victim complied with his instructions without saying anything, as she did not know what was going on. 

The victim felt scared, and the offender knew that she was too young to understand what was happening. He then took her to a shop downstairs where he bought snacks and told her not to tell anyone about what happened.

Over a period of about six months, the offender continued to sexually abuse the girl on at least five occasions, asking her to perform different sex acts on him.

He knew that his cousin was in primary school, but he "continued to commit these acts as he watched pornography and was curious about engaging in these acts", said the prosecutor. 

He based his actions on what he learned from watching pornography, she said.

Sometime in 2013, the victim moved out and went back to stay with her family, so the offender could no longer commit the sexual abuse against her. 

The incidents came to light only in June 2020, after the victim attempted suicide due to an unrelated quarrel with her boyfriend. She was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health and later told another cousin what the offender had done. This cousin took the victim to lodge a police report and the offender was arrested.

As a result of the sexual abuse, the victim felt emotional, disgusted and unwanted, the court heard. She also engaged in self-harm.

Defence lawyer Raphael Louis told the court that the prosecution's submitted sentence was fair. 

"The offences are serious. Although my client was young, but it's still serious," he said, adding that he agreed with the prosecution's submissions of eight-and-a-half years' jail.

The prosecutor added that she was asking for at least eight-and-a-half to 10 years' jail.

The judge said he had considered the defence's mitigation - which was not elaborated on in open court - as well as the fact that the offender was pleading guilty.

He ordered the offender's phone, which had been seized and found to contain obscene materials, to be forfeited to the police for disposal.