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SINGAPORE: A diagnosed paedophile who sexually abused 11 girls over 33 years, with the acts ranging from molestation to rape, was sentenced on Thursday (Sep 17) to 21 years’ jail.<\/p>\n
The victims were as young as five, and included his daughter, granddaughters, nieces and students at an enrichment centre he ran with his wife.<\/p>\n
The judge noted that the jail term should not be crushing or amount to a life sentence for the 71-year-old man, who suffers from a rare blood cancer called myelofibrosis.<\/p>\n
At the same time, she rejected the defence’s call for the exercise of judicial mercy in this case, saying it was not appropriate.<\/p>\n
Justice Mavis Chionh said this was a tragic case of persistent sexual offending by a diagnosed paedophile against his own family members and students, who trusted him.<\/p>\n
This was despite the man being punished and prosecuted twice, and despite his diagnosis in 2021.<\/p>\n
The elderly Singaporean cut a shrunken figure in the dock, with a folded wheelchair nearby.<\/p>\n
He had pleaded guilty to 10 charges including rape, sexual assault and unnatural sex, with another 23 taken into consideration. Across all offences, he began abusing victims in 1990 and this continued until 2023.<\/p>\n
He started sexually abusing his daughter in 1997 when she was between six and seven. He later raped her when she was 15, telling her not to tell anyone because it would split up the family.<\/p>\n
The man was incarcerated twice, in 1999 and 2020, for similar sexual offences against minors.<\/p>\n
However, the full extent of his predatory conduct came to light only after he started preying on his granddaughters following his second release from prison.<\/p>\n
He molested his five-year-old granddaughter in 2023, and showed her sister pornography and sexually abused her.<\/p>\n
When the granddaughters told their mother about the abuse, the man’s daughter then revealed the offences against her.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutors Jiang Ke-Yue and Ronnie Ang had sought 32 to 36 years’ jail for the man, while defence lawyer Nakoorsha Abdul Kadir and Dwi Heryanni Mohamad asked for 15 years’ jail.<\/p>\n
Justice Chionh said neither position correctly applied what is known as the totality principle, a legal concept where a court reviews the combined sentence to see if it is just, fair and not overly harsh.<\/p>\n
The prosecution’s position breached the first limb of the totality principle, which considers whether the total sentence is substantially higher than the normal sentence for the most serious of offences faced.<\/p>\n
The most serious offence in this case was punishable by between 8 and 20 years’ jail.<\/p>\n
The second limb of the totality principle requires a court to consider if the total sentence is crushing, and not in keeping with the man’s past record and future prospects.<\/p>\n
While the prosecution had argued that it was appropriate to breach the first limb because of the man’s overall criminality, the judge rejected this.<\/p>\n
She said she had no doubt that the case was egregious and the offender’s conduct was reprehensible, but the sentence sought by the prosecution was “disproportionate” to the man’s overall criminality, especially when compared with similar cases.<\/p>\n
Justice Chionh said she had to consider whether the sentence amounted to life imprisonment, and any terminal illness the man had must be considered.<\/p>\n
The offender’s life expectancy is reduced because of his blood cancer, with the latest medical report estimating a 13 per cent chance that he will live beyond 2031.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the judge did not agree with the defence’s position for 15 years’ jail. She adjusted the sentence to sufficiently reflect the man’s overall criminality, arriving at 21 years’ jail, and declined to add any additional jail term in lieu of caning because of his age and illness.<\/p>\n
Still, Justice Chionh said the offences the man committed were “particularly heinous”, with some of them involving his daughter, granddaughters and niece.<\/p>\n
“The full extent of his offending is appalling,” she said, pointing to his repeated and brazen sexual abuse and repeated offending even after previous stints in jail.<\/p>\n
She said it was clear that neither his age nor condition had put a stop to his “depraved” criminal conduct.<\/p>\n
He stopped his serial sexual offending only because he was caught, and a report from the Institute of Mental Health states that he is a paedophile with a sexual attraction to pre-pubescent girls. The report also noted he poses a danger to children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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