Featured image adapted from doidam10 on Canva, for illustration purposes only, and by MS News.
Warning: Some readers may find the descriptions in this article graphic and triggering. Discretion is advised.
The court sentenced a 69-year-old man to 20 years in jail for raping and sexually assaulting his step-granddaughter.
The repeated sexual assaults took place across the span of two years, starting when the girl was just nine years old, according to court proceedings reported by Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Source: doidam10 on Canva. Photo for illustration purposes only.
The girl’s father has been in jail since 2010, and she has never met her mother.
As such, she stayed with her grandmother since birth.
In 2008, the defendant remarried the victim’s grandmother and moved into their unit.
They slept in the same room, with the offender and his wife sleeping on the bed and the girl on the floor.
On one occasion, the girl was watching videos on her mattress while alone at home with the man when he sexually assaulted her, reported The Straits Times (ST).
Sometime between March 2016 and October 2016, after his friends had left and he was alone with the girl again, he molested the girl and forced a sex act on her.
These acts caused her to feel “disgusted”, the court heard.
At another time between January and June 2017, the man invited his friends over to drink alcohol again.
After they left, he pulled the victim down onto the mattress and raped her.
When she started to cry, he made a lewd comment and told her to clean herself up.
The man eventually sexually assaulted his step-granddaughter at least nine times between March 2016 and December 2017, when she was nine and 10 years old.
The man finally moved out when he and the victim’s grandmother divorced in December 2019.
However, the repeated assaults had caused significant trauma to the victim.
Source: doidam10 on Canva. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Since Primary 5, she started cutting herself whenever she relived the sexual assaults or worried about her grandmother.
The victim also suffered symptoms such as persistent intrusive memories, emotional and physiological distress, and sleep difficulties, among others.
Additionally, she inappropriately blamed herself and felt she was not “good enough” for her family.
A psychologist found that her symptoms met the clinical criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In July 2020, her school referred her to a counsellor for self-harm. She later told the counsellor about the sexual assaults.
The school reported the allegations to the Child Protective Service (CPS).
On 31 Aug 2020, school staff and a CPS officer went to her home to inform her grandmother. The victim made a police report that same night.
Police arrested the man on 2 Sept 2020, and authorities have kept him in detention since.
Source: pixelshot on Canva. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Appearing in court on Monday (3 Nov), the man pleaded guilty to one charge of raping a minor and another of sexual assault by penetration of a minor.
The judge took into consideration 12 other charges.
The prosecution sought a sentence of 18 to 20 years in jail.
Though he cannot be caned due to his age, the prosecution did not seek extra jail time in lieu of caning.
The man, who was self-represented as he did not have a lawyer, said in mitigation that he regretted the acts, but:
What’s done has been done already.
Pleading for leniency, he also expressed his desire to “be old” with his family in Malaysia, including two daughters from his first marriage.
However, Justice Aidan Xu stated that “little leniency can be shown” due to the “great harm” he had caused the victim with his “wicked” actions.
The judge maintained that the man was supposed to care for his step-granddaughter, but instead used her to “satisfy his lust”.
Handing the man 20 years in jail, the judge noted that the offender might die in prison, but that was a consequence of his actions.
Also read: S’pore Man Forces Granddaughter To Perform Oral Sex On Him, Jailed 12 Years For Rape
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Featured image adapted from doidam10 on Canva and MS News. Photo on left for illustration purposes only.