'Papa' sexually assaulted goddaughter, 13, who stayed in his flat whenever she ran away from home

David Sun
The New Paper
Nov 28, 2019

She treated him as her godfather, but that did not stop the man from sexually assaulting the young girl, including once when she was asleep.

On Tuesday, the 48-year-old man admitted to sexually assaulting the 13-year-old girl, who was friends with his son, twice within several months.

He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim.

He was convicted of one count each of sexual penetration of a minor below 14, outrage of modesty of a person below 14, and intentionally perverting the course of justice.

According to court documents, the victim first encountered the man in 2017 when she was running away from home.

He had introduced himself as "Papa" and offered cigarettes to the girl and her friends. Eventually, the two began sending text messages to each other daily, and she would stay at his flat whenever she ran away from home or skipped school.

One afternoon between August and September 2017, the girl and the man were alone in the flat when he began massaging her legs.

UNDRESSED

He gradually moved his hands up her legs, undressed her from the waist down and sexually assaulted her.

He stopped after she told him to, having felt great discomfort.

Sometime in the night between December 2017 and January last year, the victim and her friend were sleeping in the man's flat when he undressed her again from the waist down.

The victim woke up, quickly dressed herself and got off the mattress. The man apologised to the victim. The girl's friend slept through the episode.

The girl's mother found out about what happened and made a police report on Jan 25 last year. The man went into hiding but surrendered himself to the police on Feb 26 last year.

The court was told that the accused has a long list of previous convictions dating back 30 years, having been most recently convicted in 2006 for raping and outraging the modesty of a 16-year-old. He was released from prison in 2013.

The judge called for a report to assess the man's suitability for preventive detention.

He is expected to be back in court on Dec 23.

For sexual penetration of a minor below 14, he can be jailed for up to 20 years, and can also be fined and caned.