Man gets jail, caning for molesting girlfriend's 11-year-old sister after moving in with family

SINGAPORE: A man who was accepted by his 22-year-old girlfriend's family and moved in with them after impregnating her instead preyed on her underage sister.

The Malaysian man, now 26, molested the 11-year-old girl while they were alone at home. He later turned the tables on her by accusing her of watching pornography and spinning lies to cover it up. He intends to appeal against both his conviction and sentence.

The offender was sentenced on Wednesday (Feb 16) to five years and nine months' jail and five strokes of the cane. He had contested the charge, but was found guilty of one count of outraging the modesty of a minor while restraining her.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.

The court heard that the victim's sister gave birth to a son in December 2016. The offender became the breadwinner for the family, handing his salary to the victim's mother for household expenses, even after his girlfriend left the flat in November 2017.

The offender doted on the victim, buying her gifts like sneakers and stationery, while the victim's mother regarded the offender like her own son. 

DAY OF THE OFFENCE

On Feb 7, 2018, the girl was doing her homework when the offender called her to the bed. The mother was out at the time.

According to the girl's testimony, he told her that he wanted to show her a video on his phone. She realised that the video showed naked people and shut her eyes.

The offender then held her hands tightly and held down her leg before molesting her. The girl struggled and the man stopped only when his phone rang.

The girl ran to the toilet in fear and refused to unlock the door even when her mother returned home. She later said the man had tried to remove her pants and show her a video.

The woman testified that she saw the offender half-naked when she returned home, which was not usual, and that his "face changed completely" when he saw her.

After the incident, the girl's studies were adversely affected. She testified that she failed three to four subjects in school.

Her mother testified that she confronted the offender, asking him: "What did you do to my daughter?"

According to her, he was silent at first, before saying: "I knew, I knew, you would put this fault on me."

The victim's mother told him to leave the house and never come back. He left his son behind along with a note that read: "TQ for all. One day you all will know that I never do mistake no prob. I will come for my son. This is my family. TQ"

The victim's mother lodged a police report after a social worker explained how failing to do so could have potential psychological and emotional effects on the victim.

MAN CONTESTED HIS POLICE STATEMENTS

At trial, the man contested the admissibility of two statements he had given. He claimed that the investigating officer had threatened him during the recording of one of the statements, by saying he would have to serve a sentence whether he admitted to anything at all.

He claimed he signed the statement after being promised he would get a lighter sentence. He also claimed that another officer had pushed and scolded him before recording a statement. The police officers categorically denied these allegations. 

The investigating officer described how he took the statement from the offender, who opened up to him and said: "I acted like an animal."

In the statement, he confessed to molesting the victim and described her attire at the time as "quite seductive".

He also said he had the "urge to have sex" as he had drunk alcohol and was watching pornography on his phone in the flat.

In his defence, the offender said he had gone back to the flat that night after drinking with his friends. He said he was playing with his son on the bed when the victim began jumping on the bed.

He said he pulled her hands down and told her to stop jumping. She later used her mother's phone on the bed. The man claimed that the victim was watching pornography on his phone, and that he shouted at her to ask what she was doing. According to him, the victim was startled and sat down elsewhere with a book instead.

The prosecutor had called for six years' jail and six strokes of the cane, citing an "extremely high degree of intrusion" on an "extremely vulnerable" victim, who was only 11 and a child from a single-parent family.

There was an abuse of trust as the victim considered the offender a parental figure, and he had stayed with the family for more than a year when the offence occurred.

The man intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

For outraging a minor's modesty, with restraint involved in the offence, he could have been jailed for between three and 10 years and caned.