Man gets jail and caning for molesting underage stepdaughter
The offender pleaded guilty to one charge of outraging the victim's modesty, with another similar charge taken into consideration.
SINGAPORE — A 46-year-old man who molested his underage stepdaughter was jailed for a year and two months on Monday (Oct 5) and given two strokes of the cane.
The man, who cannot be named due to a court order protecting the victim's identity, has since divorced the victim's mother, his lawyer said.
The court heard that the man lived with the victim, then 15, and the family at the time of the offences in 2017.
On Sept 15 that year, when the man was alone with the victim in her bedroom, he massaged her ankle before molesting her. The girl was shocked and stayed still. She refused to let her stepfather sleep with her when he asked if he could join her in bed.
He then told her not to tell anyone about what happened and left. The teenager cried and told a friend about what happened.
After this, she stayed out late after school as far as she could, because she did not want to be alone with her stepfather, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sheryl Yeo said.
Then, in the wee hours of Oct 3 in 2017, when the victim was asleep in her room, the stepfather went in and molested her.
Her stepsisters, aged eight and nine at the time, were slepeing on mattresses on the floor.
Feeling frightened, the victim stayed still and pretended to be asleep. Her stepfather molested her a few more times before stopping.
When the girl went to school the next day, she told her friends what had happened and they accompanied her to report the incident to her form teacher. The girl later filed a police report.
The offender pleaded guilty to one charge of outraging the victim's modesty, with another similar charge taken into consideration.
DPP Yeo asked for the sentence that was meted out, while defence lawyer Amarjit Singh Sidhu asked for 10 months' jail.
He said that his client had four children with his then-wife, and the family of seven were close before the incident. The couple is now divorced.
The lawyer also said that his client was "a dedicated husband and father" to his then-wife and five children, including the victim.
The man is deeply remorseful and has realised his mistakes, "showing his remorse by pleading guilty", he added.
"He also promises that he will work hard to seek counselling and help for his issues. Both his ex-wife and the stepdaughter have forgiven him and written letters to court for a lenient sentence."
For outraging the victim's modesty, the man could have been jailed up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments. CNA
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