Convicted rapist sexually assaulted stepdaughter shortly after release from prison

Selina Lum
The Straits Times
Mar 12, 2020

Soon after he was released from prison, a convicted rapist married a divorced woman who knew of his crimes but believed he had changed. She allowed him to be alone with her daughter from a previous marriage.

But the sexual predator was undeterred despite having been sentenced to 24 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane in 2001 for raping his niece.

He began molesting his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

Over almost a year, the sexual abuse escalated to more intrusive acts when the man realised that the girl did not complain to her mother about the inappropriate touching.

He even molested the girl's best friend on two occasions.

On Thursday (March 12), the 58-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault by penetration and two counts of outraging the modesty of a minor.

Another 12 similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identities of the two victims.

Prosecutors sought the maximum term of 20 years' preventive detention - a regime for recalcitrant offenders that does not offer the usual one-third remission for good behaviour - to protect the public.

"It is imperative that the accused be removed from society for a substantial period of time, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Yi Ling.

"His recalcitrance, high risk of reoffending and sheer inability to control his sexual urges underscores the immediate need to take him out of circulation completely."

The man is not eligible for caning due to his age.

Justice Aedit Abdullah asked for a report to determine the man's suitability for preventive detention and adjourned the case to a later date.

The court heard that the first victim's mother had married the man in January 2017, after he was released from prison in 2016.

The girl was initially living with her biological father but moved in with her mother and stepfather in 2017.

In February 2018, the man started touching the girl inappropriately, with the acts becoming more aggravated over time.

He would usually seize the opportunity to commit the acts when the girl's mother was not looking or was occupied with something else.

In March 2018, while they were on a sofa watching TV, he placed his hand around her shoulders and squeezed her breast.

In December that year, she was sleeping when he slipped his hand into her underwear and sexually violated her.

In early 2018, when his stepdaughter's best friend came to visit, the man molested her after taking her out on his e-scooter. She was shocked and managed to wriggle free from his grip.

In January last year, the first victim's mother believed she was dating someone and told her that she would take her to the hospital to check if she was a virgin.

The girl then told their neighbour how her stepfather had touched her. The neighbour spoke to the girl's mother, who confronted the man.

Following this, the girl went to stay with her biological father.

He took her to lodge a police report after finding chat messages in which she told a friend that her stepfather had touched her private parts.

The offences against the second victim emerged during police investigations.

After his arrest, the man claimed during a psychiatric assessment that he had touched his stepdaughter only after she seduced him by taking off her shirt and exposing her breasts.

Dr Christoper Cheok from the Institute of Mental Health said that the man had a high risk of reoffending if the opportunity presented itself.

Noting that the current offences took place shortly after the man's release from prison, the psychiatrist said this indicated that he had not benefitted from the experience of his first incarceration.

The Straits Times

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