17.5 years’ jail, caning for man who sexually abused daughter for 3 years

“I never want my daughter to ever feel this torture.”

After receiving the letter, the accused desisted from the acts for a while and resumed them afterwards.

By Aug 23, 2020, the victim, who was then 16, had married. Court documents did not elaborate on this development.

However, this did not stop the accused from taking advantage of his daughter.

On Aug 31, 2020, the accused attempted to open the victim’s locked bedroom door but failed. Angered at a lack of attention from the victim, he began to punch and kick the walls.

The next day, he tried to molest his daughter, but she pushed his hands away, prompting the man to punch a door.

He then asked what would happen if he were to tell her husband about the sexual acts.

“The victim understood the accused to be threatening to disclose their sexual relationship to her husband,” court documents stated.

That day, the victim revealed her father’s acts to her mother, who confronted and hit the accused.

“The accused told the victim’s mother that it takes two hands to clap, implying that the victim was also to blame for their sexual relationship, after which he left the house,” court documents added.

The victim then told her husband that she had been “raped” by her father, and he called the police. The accused surrendered himself to the police and was arrested at about 5pm that day.

The victim’s mother filed for divorce after the case came to light. 

Upon examination by a psychiatrist, the accused was observed to prioritise his sexual needs above their impact on the victim.

The prosecution had called for at least 18 to 19-and-a-half years’ jail for the accused, along with 16 strokes of the cane.

“This is an unfortunate case where a father not only failed to protect his daughter, but is the very person who sexually exploited, groomed and corrupted her,” said Deputy Public Prosecutors Phoebe Tan and senior counsel Wong Woon Kwong.

“The accused’s misdeeds only came to light when the victim finally confided in her mother and in her husband. Despite this, the accused callously retorted that ‘it takes two hands to clap’, showing no remorse,” the prosecutors added.

Prosecutors also referred to the extent of harm on the victim, who felt angry and betrayed.

“In the period after the accused’s arrest and the disclosure of the sexual abuse to her family, the victim was upset, cried a lot and even expressed urges to self-harm,” they said.

She also expressed guilt over the legal consequences for her father’s actions.

Passing the sentence on Thursday, Justice Dedar Singh Gill took into consideration the severe abuse of trust, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, the harm caused to the victim and the period of offending as aggravating factors. 

Mr Louis initially sought 14 years and two months’ jail and 10 strokes of the cane, but eventually revised this to 11 years and seven months’ jail while maintaining the same number of cane strokes. 

The defence lawyer cited the accused’s act of surrendering himself, his full cooperation with the police and his plea of guilt as mitigating factors. 

The accused has since reflected on the gravity of his conduct and is genuinely remorseful for the pain and emotional trauma inflicted on the victim and those around her, Mr Louis said. 

But Justice Gill disagreed with the defence’s proposed sentences. 

“The sentences put forward by the accused, individually and in total, are manifestly inadequate and betray a woeful lack of appreciation of the abhorrent nature of his offending conduct and the harm caused to his own biological daughter,” Justice Gill said. 

For exploitative sexual penetration of a minor between 16 and 18, the accused could have been jailed for up to 15 years, fined or caned.

For sexual penetration of a minor under 16, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years, fined, or both.