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A 37-year-old Singaporean man was on Monday (Nov. 28) sentenced to 10 years and eight months' jail, as well as 12 strokes of the cane, for sexually assaulting his daughter, who was eight years old at the time.

The man, who cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victim's identity, pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault by penetration and another unrelated charge, as reported by CNA.

Three other charges were taken into consideration in his sentencing.

Victim lived with father, grandparents, uncle and aunt

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the victim, who is now nine years old, is the child of the man and his ex-girlfriend.

The victim is not acquainted with her mother as her mother had left her when she was young.

Her main caregivers are her paternal grandparents as her father had to work.

She lived together with her father and her grandparents, as well as her aunt and uncle in a three-room HDB flat.

Court documents stated that the victim slept in the master bedroom of the house with her grandfather, grandmother and uncle.

Her aunt slept in the other bedroom, while her father slept in the living room on a mattress on the floor.

The incident

On the morning of May 25, 2021, the victim went to the dining table to eat her breakfast.

She was seated near her father, who was lying down on the mattress in the living room.

At this time, her grandfather had gone out for a stroll and her grandmother had gone into the master bedroom to sleep.

Her uncle was also asleep in the master bedroom, while her aunt was in the other bedroom.

Father sexually assaulted her with a sex device

She was alone in the living room with her father when he went to retrieve a sex device and lubricant from the storeroom.

He approached the victim, who was still seated on a chair near the dining table, and removed her clothes.

As he was removing her undergarments, the victim said: "Father, I don’t want."

However, he ignored her and sexually assaulted her with the sex device. He did not stop despite the victim protesting multiple times.

When he heard the victim's grandfather return home, he quickly stopped his actions and rushed towards the toilet.

The victim’s grandfather entered the house and saw the victim on the living room mattress, wearing only a shirt. Her lower body was exposed.

The victim told her grandfather: "Grandfather, save me, save me."

He asked her what had happened, and she told him that her "below" area was painful.

He initially did not admit that he did it

Realising that something was wrong, the victim’s grandfather confronted his son and said: “How can you do something like that to your own daughter?”

However, the man did not admit to his offence. Instead, he alleged that the victim was lying.

The victim's aunt, who had woken up at that point, noticed that the victim was crying in the living room and brought her into her bedroom.

She found out what had happened from the victim and went back to the living room to confront the man, telling him that if he continued to deny, they will call the police.

The man did not respond and remained quiet.

The victim’s grandparents later confronted the man again.

After the victim’s grandmother continued scolding him and saying that she would call the police, the man said he was sorry, and that he would not do it again.

He also pleaded with the victim's grandmother to give him one more chance.

Victim's aunt decided that the incident should be reported

The victim’s grandmother later asked the victim to forgive the accused. The victim agreed, and her grandparents decided not to call the police.

The victim’s aunt, however, continued to feel uneasy.

She confided in her elder sister — the victim's other aunt — the following day and decided that the matter ought to be reported to the police.

After the man found out that the police were alerted, he fled from the house as he was afraid of being arrested.

He was eventually found by the police two days later on May 28, 2021, hiding under a flyover at Ang Mo Kio. A total of 21 police officers were involved in the two-day stakeout.

According to court documents, the victim was examined at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) on May 27, 2021.

The examination revealed that her intimate areas "appeared normal and appropriate for her age".

Both victim and father assessed by psychiatrist

Victim was in the intellectual disability range of intelligence

A psychological test was performed on the victim by a Institute of Mental Health (IMH) psychiatrist.

The test indicated she had an IQ of 67, which puts her at the intellectual disability range of intelligence.

Father wanted to "explore a sexual fantasy" and pretended daughter was his ex-girlfriend

The victim's father was also assessed by an IMH psychiatrist and was found to have been intoxicated at and around the time of the offence.

However, the psychiatrist concluded that the man was "cognisant and aware that his actions were both morally and legally wrong" as he chose to perform the act while he was alone with the victim.

He had also admitted that he had wanted to "explore a sexual fantasy" by deliberately using the sex device on his daughter while pretending that she was his ex-girlfriend.

The man was also found to have had "borderline intellectual functioning", but it did not meet the criterion for intellectual disability and it "did not compromise his awareness in knowing that his actions were morally and legally wrong".

Top image by Mothership.