Singapore man, 71, gets 16 months’ jail for molesting daughter more than 20 years ago when she was still a child

SINGAPORE: A 71-year-old man in Singapore has been sentenced to 16 months in jail for molesting his daughter when she was between five and seven years old, more than two decades ago. The man’s identity can’t be revealed to protect his daughter’s identity, who is now 32.

The sentence was handed down on June 29 after the court ruled that the seriousness of the offences, the abuse of parental trust and the lasting psychological impact on the victim outweighed the man’s current poor health. According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), he intends to appeal both his conviction and sentence.

The victim stayed silent for years before reporting abuse

The father was convicted last July on two counts of outraging his daughter’s modesty for offences committed between 1999 and 2001.

During the trial, the woman told the court that the abuse happened while she was a young child. One incident took place while she was unwell and resting on a living room sofa. Another incident happened in the same area of the home, where her mother walked past and told the man to stop his indecent acts.

No one else witnessed the incidents. The victim’s mother, however, denied the allegations, while the daughter testified that the abuse was recurring and estimated she had been molested between 50 and 100 times, although the case centred on two molestation charges.

The daughter also explained why she waited until adulthood to report the offences. She said she struggled to accept what had happened and felt deep shame over being abused by her own father. She eventually left the family home in 2015 after reaching a breaking point during a family holiday.

Before making a police report, she had only shared her unpleasant experience with two former boyfriends.

Court rejects plea for judicial mercy

Defence lawyer Chung Ting Fai asked the court to show judicial mercy, pointing to the offender’s serious medical conditions, including end-stage kidney failure. He argued that imprisonment would be especially difficult because the man uses a wheelchair and requires dialysis.

The defence also questioned the victim’s account, suggesting she had raised the allegations to obtain financial help from her mother so she could move out. The lawyer also pointed to her past mental health struggles.

The prosecution maintained that the delay in reporting shouldn’t undermine her credibility.

District Judge Carol Ling found that the victim had been especially vulnerable because of her age and because the offender was her biological father. She also accepted evidence that the abuse caused lasting psychological harm.

The judge noted that the Singapore Prison Service can provide dialysis and arrange treatment at public hospitals when necessary. She said there were no exceptional circumstances to warrant judicial mercy, although the offender’s health was given some weight in determining the sentence.

And because he chose to go to trial rather than plead guilty, he didn’t receive any reduction in his sentence.

Delayed reporting in child abuse cases

Cases involving child abuse are at times reported years after the offences took place. Feelings of fear, shame, confusion and family pressure can prevent victims from speaking out until they feel safe enough to do so.

The court’s decision reinforces that delayed reporting doesn’t automatically weaken a victim’s credibility. Instead, judges assess each case based on the available evidence and testimony presented during the trial.

For the two molestation charges, the offender faced a maximum sentence of two years’ jail or a fine, or both, for each charge. He wasn’t liable to be caned because he is over 50 years old.

The outcome shows why child abuse allegations deserve careful investigation, no matter how much time has passed. Justice should rest on the evidence before the court, while giving survivors the confidence that coming forward years later doesn’t mean their voices will be dismissed.