On Tuesday (20 Aug), a 55-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months in jail for showing his 10-year-old daughter pornography and forcing her to perform sexual acts on him.
According to The Straits Times (ST), the man pleaded guilty to one charge under the Children and Young Persons Act. The court has imposed a gag order on his name to protect the child’s identity.
Another change of possessing obscene films was taken into consideration during sentencing.
During the sentencing, the Judge had called the man’s offence “very wrong” and “very shameful”.
Source: Matthew Henry on Negative Space
The incident happened in 2019, when the man had been living with his wife, parents-in-law, two sons, and the victim.
The man consumed alcohol regularly and had been intoxicated on the day of the incident.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Yohanes Ng, the man had sought sexual pleasure and asked his daughter to touch his private parts.
When the daughter refused, he took her hand and forced her to perform the sexual act.
In three or four instances, the man showed his daughter pornographic material that he had received from his friends. He had seemingly singled out his daughter as he showed neither of his sons any of these obscene materials.
Source: Alexas_Fotos on Pixabay
The girl had felt uncomfortable but did not tell anyone initially. She eventually made a police report in Feb 2023, though the court documents did not state what had prompted her.
Police arrested the man on the next day. Upon investigation, they found 140 obscene films on his mobile phone.
In the sentencing submissions, DPP Ng wrote the following:
He would be in prison for less time than the victims has had and will have to live with these memories of her own father.
Netizens echoed this sentiment as they found the sentence too short given the nature of his crime, which is exacerbated by the fact that the victim was underage.
The man had pleaded for leniency during court sentencing on the grounds of being the sole breadwinner for the family.
Source: Reddit
Some were especially appalled by the horror of a parent committing this crime against their own flesh and blood.
Source: Reddit
Another also raised the important point that the victim will still be underage when the man is released from prison 18 months from now. She will once again be within his reach if he returns to the family.
Source: Facebook
Reports by ST did not include information on the family’s arrangement after the fulfilment of the jail sentence.
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Featured image adapted from MS News.
The authorities have investigated and closed the incident with no follow-ups required, MFA said.
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