Man jailed for repeatedly molesting girl he was paid to look after

SINGAPORE: A 58-year-old man was jailed for three years on Thursday (Jul 14) for molesting a girl under his care. 

The victim was 10 to 11 at the time of the offences. Her mother had paid the man to look after the girl after learning that he took care of other children by giving them accommodation and providing for their daily needs for a fee.

The man described the girl as a "temptation" and said that while he "wanted to rape her", he did not do so as he was scared, court documents stated.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of outraging the victim's modesty. Another two similar charges were considered for sentencing.

The identities of both the offender and victim are protected by gag order.

The court heard that the victim moved to Singapore with her mother when she was younger.

The victim's mother met the offender through friends. As she could not speak English or help with her daughter's schoolwork, she sought help from the offender, paying him S$1,300 a month to take care of the girl's basic needs, including her education.

The girl moved in with the offender, his family and other children under his care when she was eight.

She viewed him as a father figure as her own father was absent. The offender also told investigators the victim was "very close" to him.

The first offence took place in 2017 when the girl was confiding in the man about personal matters. Towards the end of their conversation in one of the bedrooms, he briefly kissed her on her lips. 

Later that year, while waking the girl up in the morning, the offender touched her chest over her clothes.

On a third occasion in 2017, the man asked his maid to lock her bedroom door so that the victim would not be able to sleep there. He then told the victim to sleep with him on his bed where he touched her again.

The next morning, the man told the victim not to tell his wife or maid about what had happened. The victim did as she was told.

Twice in 2018, the offender touched her private parts while she was taking an afternoon nap in a bedroom.

DISCOVERY OF OFFENCES

The girl finally confided in her mother in 2018, following an incident when she found the man in her bedroom after she had taken a shower.

The girl's mother took her back home the next day. She then told the offender's wife what her daughter had said, but the woman begged her not to report the matter to the police.

During a confrontation with the man and his wife, he denied any wrongdoing.

The offender subsequently gave the victim and her mother an apology letter, which his wife helped to write.

The court heard that the victim was unable to stop thinking about the incidents and struggled over the next few years, leading to difficulties focusing on her studies.

In February 2020, a teacher noticed that the victim was behaving unusually. Her teachers also found a penknife in her schoolbag.

The girl asked to speak to the school counsellor who accompanied her to make a police report together with her mother. The man was arrested a week later.

The victim attended multiple counselling sessions to help prevent self-harm and cope with suicidal thoughts after the offences came to light.

She said that she felt disgusted by what the offender had done to her, had lost trust in men and felt fearful when they came near her.

PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM

Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan sought 33 to 39 months' jail for the offender.

When asked if he had anything to say, the offender, who was unrepresented, told the court: "Sorry to the victim."

"There was clearly abuse of trust on the part of the accused for preying on a child he was entrusted with," said District Judge Lee Lit Cheng.

Another aggravating factor was the man's premeditation in the third offence in 2017, as he asked the maid to lock her bedroom door, the judge said.

She also noted that the victim had to continue sleeping in the man's bed for the rest of the night after he stopped molesting her, and that the offences caused the girl psychological harm.

The judge gave some mitigating weight to the man's decision to plead guilty, sparing the victim the further trauma of having to recount her ordeal at trial.

Those guilty of outraging the modesty of a child under 14 can be jailed for up to five years and fined, caned or any combination of these punishments.