In a horrific case that recently came to light, a man committed sexual abuse against a 16-year-old girl he took in as his daughter.
The girl was previously sexually assaulted by her father as well. She also watched her mother commit suicide.
The accused, a married man, later applied to adopt her as his daughter.
While she was staying with him, he began to sexually assault her nearly daily.
For his actions, a judge sentenced the man to 10 years in jail and nine strokes of the cane.
The victim, now 19, witnessed her mother commit suicide by stabbing herself in 2017. The former was just 13 years old at that time.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) diagnosed the girl with an adjustment disorder with depressed mood.
Sadly, things spiralled downwards from there.
Her father reportedly did not allow the girl or her siblings to mourn their mother. This was because he thought she wasn’t a good mother.
Then, in January 2018, he began to sexually abuse the victim. She ended up overdosing on medication and sent to IMH.
Source: Google Maps
IMH staff diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In March 2018, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) removed her from her father’s care and placed her with a family friend.
The girl stopped engaging in self-harm for a while but started doing it again after a close friend committed suicide in June of that year.
In September 2018, MSF moved the girl to a treatment centre designed to help traumatised teens reintegrate into society.
There, she met the accused, who was a manager at a company that conducts camps for children and was running a programme at the centre.
The Straits Times (ST), however, noted that they met at a camp for girls in June 2019.
At one point, the girl told the accused that she hoped to be taken into foster care or adopted.
The offender, a married father of two sons, brought up the idea of adoption to his wife, who agreed.
MSF assessed the family to be suitable caregivers and the man began meeting the girl regularly.
According to CNA, the girl’s psychologist briefed the family on her past trauma and mental condition.
The girl had told the psychologist that she was very happy to finally find a loving family.
In December 2019, the girl began staying over at the offender’s home.
However, the adoption was postponed due to the victim’s mental condition, reported 8world News.
Eventually, her condition improved and she resumed staying over at his house in June 2020.
Things seemed to be looking up finally, but things took a dark turn in September 2020.
The accused asked the girl to take off her clothes and stand in front of a mirror before rubbing her chest, claiming that this was to help her release “love chemicals”.
He continued to sexually assault the girl almost every day until November 2020. Some of the abuse occurred while the accused’s wife was in another room.
In addition, he recorded the sexual acts with his mobile phone and showed the girl pornography.
In November 2020, the girl asked the accused why he didn’t treat her like a daughter. She felt used and thought that he was not being fair to his wife.
Feeling guilty, she began to commit self-harm and have suicidal thoughts.
Source: D-Keine on Canva, for illustration purposes only
The offender initially agreed to stop, but later that month, made her perform sexual acts once more.
On 27 Nov, she sent him a message saying, “You’re one of the biggest reasons why I want to die because I can’t live with myself like this and I can’t live with you.”
At the time of the sexual assaults, the man got his wife pregnant.
Unfortunately, the fertilised egg implanted itself outside the womb, a condition known as an ectopic pregnancy.
The man’s wife subsequently had a miscarriage, causing the victim to blame herself for it.
8world News reported that the girl told a school teacher about the sexual abuse but asked them not to call the police as she did not want to lose another family.
Despite this, the teacher eventually decided to lodge a police report.
In court, the offender pleaded guilty to four counts of exploitative sexual penetration of a minor who is 16 or 17.
The judge took another nine charges into consideration.
The prosecution sought 12 to 15 years’ jail for the offender, citing his “depraved and exploitative” conduct.
They highlighted how he preyed on a vulnerable 16-year-old trying to find sanctuary from trauma.
Furthermore, they argued that his actions left her with “indelible mental scars”.
On 28 Nov 2023, the judge sentenced the accused to 10 years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane.
Thankfully, the adoption did not go through in the end.
We truly hope the victim can find a loving family and heal from her trauma.
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Featured image by MS News.
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