Jail for father who sexually abused 12-year-old daughter, blamed her 'sidelong glances'

SINGAPORE: A 52-year-old man was jailed for 18 years on Thursday (Jan 16) for sexually abusing his daughter over a period of two years, from when she was 12.

The man cannot be named as this could lead to the identification of the victim, who is his biological daughter.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault by penetration. Five other charges for sexual offences were considered in sentencing.

As the man is over 50 and cannot be caned, his sentence included a year's imprisonment in lieu of the maximum 24 strokes of the cane.

The offender did not have a lawyer. He broke down and cried during the hearing, at times sobbing audibly from the dock and wiping his face with his prison uniform.

He interrupted the reading of the statement of facts to ask the interpreter to stop, but was told that the facts must be read to him for his plea to be taken.

However, the man said in his mitigation that "as time went by, my daughter's sidelong glances made me behave in a wrong manner and I am very remorseful when I think about it".

The prosecutor argued that this statement, which could be read as blaming the victim, weakened the level of remorse the man claimed to feel.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that the man was working as a technician when the offences were committed from 2019 to 2021. He lived with the victim, her two brothers, and the victim's mother.

He first sexually assaulted his daughter between Jul 31 and Aug 9, 2019. The victim's mother was away visiting relatives in India during that period.

The victim had returned home from school and was sitting alone on the floor of her bedroom, playing games on her phone.

Her father entered the room and sat down next to her. He watched her play games for a few minutes, then touched her leg and sexually assaulted her.

This happened again around Oct 1, 2019. The victim went home after finishing her last Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) paper, and baked muffins to destress.

The girl and her father were alone at home in the evening. She was in her bedroom playing games on her phone when he came in, sat next to her and sexually assaulted her.

He sexually assaulted her again between October and December 2019.

From around 2020 onwards, the victim's mother started working night shifts as a security guard, and would be at work from about 7pm to 7am.

When her mother was working, the victim slept alone in a bedroom, her brothers shared another bedroom, and her father slept on a sofa in the living room.

Although the girl would lock her bedroom door at night, her father had the key. He went into the victim's bedroom at night and molested her at least two times in 2020 and 2021.

In 2021, he also sent her a pornographic video, which she downloaded and watched before realising what it was. She was very angry and deleted the video.

The girl was distressed by the thought that her father would continue to come into her room at night to molest her.

She stayed alert at night to try to guard against him entering the bedroom, and developed insomnia and repetitive thoughts about what she was going through.

She felt scared and disgusted by her father's actions, but only realised his behaviour was wrong when she was taught sex education in secondary school.

However, she feared reporting the abuse as her father had a hot temper and she was afraid he might scold or hit her. She also believed people would think badly of her.

Around midnight on Jul 26, 2021, when her mother was at work, the girl's father entered her bedroom and molested her. He ignored her when she told him to stop and pushed his hand away.

He then began to undress. Afraid of what he might do, the victim left the bedroom immediately. She only returned and locked the door after he had left the room.

This incident left the victim extremely upset. She felt she could not take it anymore and that her father was not going to stop the abuse, prosecutors said.

The girl told her form teacher about the sexual assaults at the next opportunity on Jul 27, 2021.

Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) officers brought her to make a police report, and her father was arrested later that day.

A doctor at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) assessed that the offender was a paedophile, and found him fit to plead.

The sexual abuse left an impact on the victim, who said she did not want her father to come back to her family, and could never trust him again.

She said that she was filled with dread and fear every time he went into her bedroom, but did not know what to do. She would shut her eyes tightly and pretend to be asleep, and shout when he started to touch her.

"I have this rage inside me. Whenever I think of what had happened, how he betrayed my trust and did this to me as a father, I will snap. I still break down and cry alone whenever I think of all this," she said in a victim impact statement.

She also felt unable to trust men or boys anymore as she was fearful of what they would do to her.

VICTIM-BLAMING STATEMENTS

Deputy Public Prosecutors David Koh and Alexandria Shamini Joseph sought 18 to 21 years' imprisonment, with the sentence to include a year's jail in lieu of 24 strokes of the cane.

They highlighted the man's abuse of the responsibility and trust placed in him as the victim's father, and the girl's vulnerability given her young age.

They said the offender's premeditation was aggravating, pointing to evidence that the man took advantage of instances when the girl was alone at home.

While the man pleaded guilty, sparing the victim the ordeal of testifying in a trial, he initially lacked remorse, the prosecutors said.

This could be seen in his victim-blaming claim that his daughter induced him to offend by looking at him "in a sexual mode", as recorded in his IMH report.

At this point, the man interrupted and told Justice Hoo Sheau Peng through his interpreter: "That is the truth, Your Honour!"

Mr Koh responded that the prosecution rejected this and the man's statement about "sidelong glances", insofar as these claimed that the victim bore some responsibility for the offences.

When it was the offender's turn to address the court, he said: "Just as how Your Honour had believed what is stated in the statement of facts, I hope that Your Honour will believe what I have stated in my mitigation plea as well."

He said he had admitted to the offences "considering the victim's well-being", as he had heard his daughter could not concentrate on her studies because the case was not concluded.

He asked for 16 years' imprisonment and said he would not commit any more mistakes.

He also asked for his permanent residency not to be cancelled as all his children are in Singapore.

The offence of aggravated sexual assault by penetration carries between eight and 20 years' imprisonment, and at least 12 strokes of the cane.