SINGAPORE: A man began sexually abusing his son’s stepdaughter after a temporary sleeping arrangement during the COVID-19 pandemic left them sharing a bedroom for about a week.
The victim, who was 11 to 12 years old at the time, initially kept the abuse a secret because she felt ashamed of herself.
The 68-year-old man was sentenced to 11 years and six monthsâ jail on Friday (Jul 31) for molesting and sexually abusing her. He cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity.
He pleaded guilty to eight charges â five for molesting a child under 14 years old in a close relationship with him, one for sexual assault involving penetration and two for committing an indecent act with a child.
He was sentenced on two molest charges and the sexual assault charge, with the rest of the offences taken into consideration.
After entering secondary school in 2022, the victim told her close friends about the sexual assault and they advised her to lodge a police report. But she decided against it because she did not want her parents to worry.
A few days later, a classmate who was dating the victim’s brother looked through her phone and saw the related messages. She then told her boyfriend about the abuse, and he informed their parents.
After she related the incidents to her parents, the girlâs stepfather confronted his father. But the court heard that her abuser denied doing anything of a sexual nature, claiming that he had only hugged her.
After his son threatened to call the police, the offender confessed that he had âdone wrongâ. His son also told him to leave the flat and the man moved out two days later.
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