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A man instructed his then 24-year-old intellectually disabled daughter to perform sexual acts on him under the pretext of "educating her sexually".

Over the span of a year, the man, now 60, went on to receive sexual acts from his daughter on at least four occasions.

Most instances began with him scolding his intellectually disabled daughter for unrelated matters.

The victim did as she was instructed in order to appease her father's anger towards her.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of incest on Dec. 7.

Two other similar charges were taken into consideration.

Both the man and his daughter cannot be identified due to a gag order protecting their identities.

Background

As stated in court documents, it is understood that the victim was born out of wedlock in 1994 and grew up in the care of her maternal grandmother.

The victim's biological parents married each other in 2002, and the man first met his daughter in 2008.

Between the time period of 2008 to 2014, the victim only saw her father about once every two years. She moved to Singapore in 2014 to be closer to her parents when she was 19 years old.

The victim's mother stated that due to her intellectual disability, her social, communicative, and daily living skills were not well-developed.

The victim was a volunteer worker with MINDS, a voluntary welfare organisation that works with those with intellectual disabilities.

Sometime around Chinese New Year in 2019, the man showed his genitals to his daughter and asked her to massage them.

He did so under the pretext of educating her sexually so that she would not get impregnated by other men. She did as she was told.

For subsequent abuses, the man would instruct his daughter to perform the sexual acts while his wife was out working from 3pm to 11pm. He forbid the victim from telling on him to her mother.

Throughout the sexual abuse, the victim understood that her father's actions were wrong, as her intellectual disability did not impair her rationality and reasoning.

She was able to express her reluctance in performing the acts.

However, her intellectual disability rendered her dependent on her parents, and she struggled to defend herself from being subjected to the alleged acts.

Sexual acts were used to manipulate daughter

On one occasion in 2019, the victim was talking to her father in their flat about how she was physically attracted to members of a Korean boy band.

The man grew sexually aroused and was tempted to engage in sexual acts with the victim.

He then showed pornographic videos to the victim and told his daughter to perform sexual acts on him.

He explained to her that he was teaching her so that she could get experience in sexual matters, and that if she serviced other men outside, they might harm her instead.

The final incident took place in April 2020, when the man and his daughter were eating together in their flat when she dipped her own spoon into a dish of food instead of using the serving spoon.

He became furious and shouted at his daughter about her lack of hygiene. In a fit of rage, he refused to talk to her.

Upset, she apologised to the man later that day.

She glanced at his groin, which the man inferred to be an offering of sexual service.

She performed a sexual act on him, and he told her that she did a good job and reminded her to keep their sexual exchanges a secret.

However, the victim felt like she was forced to perform sexual acts more and more frequently, and eventually confided in her training officer at MINDS about the sexual abuse.

On Apr. 6 2020, the victim, accompanied by a case worker from MINDS, lodged a report at Serangoon Gardens Neighbourhood Police Post, stating that she had been sexually assaulted by her father.

No sentencing precedent for incest

While there is no sentencing framework for incest, it is punishable with a maximum of five year' jail.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon asked for between seven to eight years' jail for the offender.

DPP Poon highlighted four aggravating factors, including the man's abuse of trust as he misused his authority and position as the biological father of the victim, the victim's vulnerability as a person with disability, and the element of sexual grooming.

The prosecution also added that both parents were responsible for disciplining the victim, but only the man interwove sexual acts into parental acts as a disciplinarian.

This highlighted the egregious intentions of the man in perverting the father-daughter relationship.

However, CNA reported that defence lawyer Joshua Tong disagreed, citing that there was no coercion, claiming that the fact that the scolding and sexual acts took place together was coincidence.

He said his client is remorseful and has spent a lot of time reflecting on his actions since 2020.

He said his client knows his actions were wrong and is pleading guilty and is asking for a fair sentence.

The judge adjourned case sentencing to Dec. 23.

Top image via Unsplash