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SINGAPORE \u2013 An insurance agent and business owner became the caregiver to his secretary\u2019s teenage daughters in 2012 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.<\/p>\n
When he was 64 years old, he allegedly entered into a relationship with the younger sibling who was 14.<\/p>\n
That relationship culminated in the teenager becoming pregnant when she was 17 in 2015. She had reportedly aborted the child at his request.<\/p>\n
On July 20, the now 77-year-old man sought to defend himself against 10 charges, which accuse him of committing obscene acts, and penetrating the victim on various occasions when she was between 14 and 16.<\/p>\n
He cannot be named to protect the victim\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
The prosecution will call five witnesses to testify during the trial, including with the victim and her mother.<\/p>\n
The victim, who is now 27, was the prosecution\u2019s first witness on July 20. The hearing was closed to the public and to the media.<\/p>\n
The prosecution said the girl will testify the man had lied he was 40 years old at the time of the alleged offences. He also reportedly alienated her from her family by telling her that her father was a bad person.<\/p>\n
The prosecution said in its opening address the man became the children\u2019s caregiver in 2012, after their mother was diagnosed with cancer and their father was busy working.<\/p>\n
The prosecution said the man had been a trusted family friend of the girl\u2019s mother. He had even allowed the family to stay rent-free at one of his properties between 2012 and 2013.<\/p>\n
During this time, he would help to fetch the girl and her sister home after school, or ferry them to their tuition and enrichment classes.<\/p>\n
Court documents showed that on one such occasion in 2012 when she was in Secondary 2, the man picked her up after school and held her hand while inside his car.<\/p>\n
The prosecution said she did not resist him even though she felt uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
Later in the year, he drove her to Mandai reservoir and kissed her on the lips after parking the car. Again, she did not resist him despite feeling uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said the man exchanged text messages with her during this period and would take her out for meals.<\/p>\n
He escalated his advances after she became desensitised to holding hands and kissing him, the prosecution said.<\/p>\n
Between 2012 and 2013, when she was under 16, the man allegedly sexually assaulted her multiple times.<\/p>\n
He is accused of continuing to engage in penetrative sexual acts with the girl after she turned 16 in 2014.<\/p>\n
She reportedly became pregnant in early 2015, while in junior college, and underwent an abortion in February while accompanied by the man. Court documents showed no paternity test was conducted at the time.<\/p>\n
She ended the relationship at the end of 2017 and reported him to the police in August 2019.<\/p>\n
The trial will continue on July 21.<\/p>\n
The man can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined if convicted of sexual penetration of a minor who is above 14 years old but below 16 years of age.<\/p>\n
If found guilty of committing obscene acts with a young person, the man can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $10,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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