SINGAPORE – A 69-year-old man who raped and sexually assaulted his step-granddaughter at home when she was nine to 10 years old was sentenced to 20 years’ jail on Nov 3.
The assaults, which took place from 2016 to 2017, came to light after the girl was referred to a school counsellor for self-harming behaviour, the High Court was told.
On July 27, 2020, she told the counsellor about the abuse, and the school reported the matter to the Child Protective Service (CPS) of the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
On Aug 31 that year, staff from the victim’s school and an officer from CPS went to the girl’s home to tell her grandmother about her allegations.
It was not mentioned in court why the visit took place around a month after the girl’s revelation.
The victim made a police report that night.
The offender was arrested on Sept 2, 2020, and has been remanded since.
On Nov 3, the Singaporean pleaded guilty to a charge of rape and a charge of sexual assault by penetration. He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim, who is now 18 years old.
Another 12 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The man cannot be caned as he is above the age of 50. The prosecution did not seek an additional jail term in lieu of caning.
In sentencing, Justice Aidan Xu said the man’s “wicked” acts robbed the victim of her childhood and caused her great psychological harm.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min earlier told the court that the victim’s grandmother was her primary caregiver.
The girl’s biological father had been incarcerated since 2010, and she has never met her biological mother.
