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SINGAPORE \u2013 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\u2019 jail on Nov 3.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
On Aug 31 that year, staff from the victim\u2019s school and an officer from CPS went to the girl\u2019s home to tell her grandmother about her allegations. <\/p>\n
It was not mentioned in court why the visit took place around a month after the girl\u2019s revelation.<\/p>\n
The victim made a police report that night. <\/p>\n
The offender was arrested on Sept 2, 2020, and has been remanded since.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Another 12 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
In sentencing, Justice Aidan Xu said the man\u2019s \u201cwicked\u201d acts robbed the victim of her childhood and caused her great psychological harm. <\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min earlier told the court that the victim\u2019s grandmother was her primary caregiver.<\/p>\n
The girl\u2019s biological father had been incarcerated since 2010, and she has never met her biological mother. <\/p>\n
The offender moved in to live with the girl and her grandmother, whom he remarried in 2008 after they divorced in 2000.<\/p>\n
All three of them slept in one room, while the other room was rented out to tenants. <\/p>\n
He sexually assaulted the girl on at least nine occasions between March 2016 and December 2017.<\/p>\n
One time, the victim was alone at home with the man after her grandmother went out with friends until past midnight. The girl was on her mattress watching videos on the man\u2019s phone when he sexually assaulted her.<\/p>\n
On another occasion, the victim\u2019s grandmother was not at home when the man invited several friends over for drinks. After his friends left, he went to the room, pulled her down onto the mattress on the floor, and raped her.<\/p>\n
According to a psychiatric report, the victim had passive suicidal wishes, and had cut herself since she was in Primary 5.<\/p>\n
Her trauma symptoms included persistent intrusive memories, distress when reminded of the incidents, and inappropriate self-blame.<\/p>\n
The man moved out after he and the grandmother divorced again, in December 2019.<\/p>\n
The offender, who was not represented by a lawyer, asked for leniency, saying he wished to be reunited with his family in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
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