Man jailed 16 months for molesting 14-year-old daughter in her sleep
A 52-year-old man was sentenced to one year and four months’ jail after pleading guilty to one count of using criminal force to molest his daughter while she was sleeping. Another similar charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.
SINGAPORE — While his 14-year-old daughter lay asleep next to him, he sexually violated her by touching her private parts.
Even after she turned away out of fear and discomfort, he escalated his acts, pulling down her pants and rubbing himself against her.
The girl kept silent as she feared her mother would not believe her. It was only when her teacher observed a change in her behaviour that she told her school counsellor what had happened.
On Tuesday (March 21), the girl’s 52-year-old father was sentenced to one year and four months’ jail after pleading guilty to one count of using criminal force to molest her. Another similar charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.
They cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect the girl’s identity.
The man’s lawyer, Ashwin Ganapathy, told the court that his client had difficulties controlling his sexual urges due to his addiction to pornography.
Mr Ganapathy, who asked for no more than 14 months’ jail, said the man had been diagnosed with habit and impulse control disorder with an excessive sex drive. He would view explicit material daily, which has “plagued him for almost 30 years”.
He has since sought help from a counsellor and cut his habit of watching porn to “once every two or three days”, the lawyer added.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Seah Ee Wei replied: “If this were the case, he should have taken steps to distance himself from his daughter.”
In sentencing him, District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam told the man: “Even your counsel has stated you have committed a very heinous offence. The court has to impose a sentence that will send a message to others and yourself.”
WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that the man began molesting his daughter in January last year.
The two shared a bedroom and slept in the same queen-sized bed.
It was not stated if the girl’s mother, who was working a night shift then, shared the same bedroom and bed.
He repeated his crime in March that year. The daughter was half-asleep when her father began molesting her.
After some time, she turned to her side with her back facing him, hoping he would stop. He paused for a few minutes before continuing his actions.
Unable to endure it any longer, she sat up, pretending she had just been woken up by some movement and did not know what had happened.
He similarly pretended nothing had happened, and they both left the bed.
“The victim stated that she was very affected by the incident and was unable to concentrate in school or on anything she did. She was disturbed and embarrassed by the incident and had started to connect other acts of the accused in the past… to ulterior intent on the part of the accused,” DPP Seah said.
After her teacher referred the girl to the school counsellor, a child protection officer with the Ministry of Social and Family Development took her to the police on April 10 last year to report the issue.
For using criminal force to molest his daughter, the man could have been jailed up to two years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three.
