Singapore – A Singapore permanent resident (PR) pleaded guilty to three charges of statutory rape after giving in to his paedophilic urges and preying on his young daughter whenever his wife was not home.
On Friday (Mar 26), a 44-year-old man, originally from a European country, pleaded guilty to statutory rape in the High Court, reported todayonline.com. The man cannot be identified due to a court order protecting the victims’ identities.
His daughter was about three to seven years old when the man began his depraved actions. He would show her pornographic videos, including one of a child having sex with her father, the report noted.
The child became afraid to shower alone after watching a TV programme. When the man accompanied her to the shower, the court heard that he developed a sexual desire for the girl.
At this moment, he realised he was a paedophile, said the prosecution, adding there was “no turning back.”
Although the sexual assault began in their first residence, the depraved acts’ frequency increased after they moved to their second residence.
The man would target his daughter when his wife, also a Singapore PR, was not around.
Despite the child’s objections the first time he tried to rape her, the man told her to “try for a few minutes” and showed her pornography before sexually assaulting her.
The daughter kept silent as she was afraid and did not want her parents to divorce.
In 2018, the man entered the girl’s bedroom and locked the door before telling her to have sex with him. She initially rejected his advances, but the man persisted and raped her.
Another instance was when they were home with her baby brother and the family’s domestic helper. The man locked himself with his daughter in her bedroom. He showed her pornography before raping her over her objections.
The man also sexually abused his daughter’s friend, who is from a Southeast Asian country, when she came to their residence to watch television or play. The man kissed the girl on the lips and told her not to tell anyone.
His actions then escalated into a sexual assault against his daughter and her friend while watching a movie in the master bedroom. The friend refused to come over again to avoid the man.
When the friend returned to her home country, she had a confession for her First Communion ceremony, a rite of passage for Catholic children.
The child revealed that her friend’s father had sexually assaulted her. A police report was lodged when the girl and her parents returned to Singapore.
The police were summoned to the man’s residence on Jul 1, 2019, and discovered his daughter alone. The man was arrested after the police interviewed his daughter.
The court heard that the last time he raped his daughter was on Jun 29, 2019, when his wife was abroad.
It was reported that the crimes were committed from around December 2011 to June 2019. Prosecutors highlighted that according to the man’s estimates, he had sex with his daughter “more than 10 times and less than 20 times,” with more instances of oral sex than intercourse.
The man was diagnosed with paedophilic disorder after his arrest. It was noted by a psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health that his condition had no substantive contributory link to his crimes.
The report noted that his cognitive functioning and volitional or emotional capability to commit the crime based on his sexual desires were not significantly impaired. It was pointed out that the man was not of unsound mind and had no other major mental illnesses.
Deputy public prosecutors Lim Ying Min and Yvonne Poon requested at least 30 years’ imprisonment and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane, noting the man’s crimes as “heinous.”
“He utterly abdicated his duties to the victim… and used their closeness to facilitate years and years of abuse,” said the prosecutors.
Amarjit Singh Sidhu, the man’s lawyer, sought 24 to 26 years’ imprisonment, noting, “He conceded what he did was wrong. It was deplorable.”
For each charge of rape of a minor under the age of 14, the man could be imprisoned for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
Another 19 charges will be considered by High Court Judge Mavis Chionh during the man’s sentencing on Apr 19. The charges include sexual assault by penetration and his possession of 296 obscene videos on his electronic devices./TISG
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