A 77-year-old Singaporean man appeared in the State Courts on Monday (20 July) facing 10 charges, primarily related to outraging the modesty of a minor and sexually assaulting a underage girl.
The alleged offences occurred over several years, culminating in the victim becoming pregnant.
Three additional charges were stood down during the trial.
To protect the victim’s identity, the judge issued a gag order prohibiting the publication of any information that could lead to her identification.
When the girl was in Secondary 2, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her father was busy with work.
As a result, the family entrusted the man to help look after the victim and her elder sister, including driving them to and from school and other activities.
The man had maintained a close connection with the household since the victim was a toddler.
Although the girl was initially wary of him, he eventually won her over by acting as a supportive listener.
Aged 64 when the alleged crimes began, the defendant ran a business, worked in insurance, and hired the victim’s mother as his secretary between 2012 and 2013.
Around that same period, he aided the family with house renovations and let them reside rent-free in one of his properties.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Tay Jia En and Tan Jun Ya told the court that the defendant gradually breached emotional and physical boundaries, establishing an inappropriate connection with the girl when she was 14.
The court heard that in 2012, while giving her a lift to tuition, he abruptly grabbed her hand.
He subsequently escalated his attention by messaging her incessantly, taking her out to eat, and kissing her at a reservoir, acts that left her numb to his physical advances.
Alongside the physical boundary violations, he actively tried to distance the girl from her relatives by telling her that her father was a bad person.
He also misrepresented his age, claiming to be in his early 40s.
The prosecution plans to call five witnesses, led by the victim herself, who is expected to testify about being sexually assaulted at various locations and surviving an attempted rape inside a car park.
According to prosecutors, the defendant continued committing penetrative sexual acts after the girl turned 16 in 2014.
Early the following year, while still enrolled in school, the teenager found out she was pregnant.
In February 2015, acting under his pressure, she underwent an abortion.
The defendant went with her to the medical facility, leaving the teenager deeply traumatised.
The improper relationship dragged on until late 2017, when the young woman finally severed ties with him.
In 2019, the victim reached out to the Sexual Assault Care Centre, run by the non-profit organisation Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), for support before lodging a formal report with the authorities.
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If convicted of committing an obscene or indecent act against a minor, the offender can be sentenced to up to five years in prison, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
A conviction for the sexual penetration of or sexual relations with a minor carries a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, in addition to a fine.
Also read: 77-year-old man in S’pore faces 10 charges of sexually assaulting girl, resulting in pregnancy
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