Jail, caning for man who molested daughter after wife ‘unwilling’ to engage in sex with him

In the same period, the man would have his daughter sit on his lap and molest her daily.

The man’s mother-in-law witnessed several of these incidents and would call the victim away.

She also advised the accused to stop as the victim had grown up.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Brian Wong urged the court to sentence the accused to between five years seven months and six years four months’ jail.

He also sought 12 strokes of the cane.

“In our view, it is difficult to overstate the extent to which the close relationship between the accused and the victim was central to the accused’s commission of the offences.

“Not only were the accused and victim physically living in the same household, the accused repeatedly molested the victim in the course and under the guise of performing actions which would ordinarily be expected of a loving father,” said Mr Wong.

The prosecutor also noted that the man’s actions formed part of a sustained pattern of offending.

“Here, what these circumstances show is that, far from having acted on impulse in an isolated moment of weakness,the accused must have been cognisant of what he was doing and would have had multiple opportunities to stop himself,” Mr Wong said.

The accused’s lawyer, Mr Bryan Lim from Hoh Law Corporation, sought between 46 and 50-and-a-half months’ jail and three strokes of the cane for his client.

The lawyer said the accused was “extremely remorseful” over his actions, fully accepting they were “wrong and unacceptable”.

As evidence, the lawyer pointed to how his client admitted to the offences in his first statement and indicated early on that he intended to plead guilty.

“He does love his family and children, including the victim, and accepts that he caused hurt to her,” he added.

The accused’s wife is in the midst of divorcing him, with judgment expected next month.

“Ever since investigations have commenced, he has fully accepted that it would be uncomfortable and not appropriate to stay with his wife and children, and thus moved out,” the lawyer said.

“His main focus in life is to repair his relationship and to make amends, he does hope his family will forgive.”

Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng considered the non-fleeting nature of the acts and the victim’s young age as aggravating factors.

The victim had been living in the same household under her father’s care and authority, but he had “clearly exploited his position” to gain access to her bedroom, the judge added.

For molesting a person under 14, an offender can be jailed up to five years, and/or caned, and/or fined.