S'pore man, 70, convicted of molesting daughter when she was aged between 5 & 7

A 70-year-old man was convicted on Jul. 25 of molesting his daughter on two occasions between 1999 and 2001, when she was between five and seven years old.

According to the victim, now 30, at the time of the first incident, she had fallen sick and felt her father molesting her when she woke up from a nap at their home, reported CNA.

In the second incident, the accused molested her when she was sitting with him in the living room, even though her mother had apparently asked him to stop, added the victim.

During court proceedings, the accused's counsel cast doubt on the victim's credibility, claiming that she had "false memory syndrome", where individuals hold deep convictions in memories, often of traumatic episodes, that never actually occurred.

The accused will appear in court again in September 2025 for mitigation and sentencing.

Victim's account

According to court documents seen by CNA, at the time of the incidents, the victim was living in her family home with the accused, her mother, and her brother.

However, there was no witness present when the incidents happened.

During court proceedings, the victim recounted that the first instance took place after she fell sick, and the accused brought her to the doctor.

After they returned home, she took a nap on a couch in their living room.

When she woke up and felt the accused molesting her, she looked at him.

In response, the accused stopped what he was doing and looked back at her, appearing to be "taken aback" by her sudden awakening, said the victim.

2nd incident

The victim also told the court that during the second incident, she was molested by the accused in their living room, reported CNA.

At the time, her mother happened to emerge from her room and walk past them on her way to the kitchen.

The victim claimed that her mother had asked the accused to stop what he was doing, but the accused continued molesting her after noticing that her mother was not paying attention.

Maintained 'amicable relationship' with accused despite trauma

During court proceedings, the victim estimated that she was molested by the accused around 50 to 100 times, even though court documents only covered two of such incidents, reported CNA.

Despite the frequent abuse, the victim said she initially did not want to admit that her father had molested her because doing so would make the violation, which she described as "insane and overwhelming".

Instead, she maintained "an amicable relationship" with the accused for around 10 years after the incidents, even though she felt "very scared and very powerless".

However, as the trauma from the violation caused her to struggle in her romantic relationships over the years, she found it more and more difficult to deny what had happened.

In 2015, when the accused shouted at her after becoming implicated in a traffic accident during a family trip in Malaysia, the victim moved out of her family home and left for the United Kingdom to study.

Defence counsel questioned victim

In response, the accused's counsel took jabs at the victim's testimony, including by pointing out she had taken antidepressants and visited psychologists, reported CNA.

Specifically, the lawyer highlighted that one psychiatrist, whom the victim confided in about the alleged violation, had told her parents previously that she had false memory syndrome.

However, during court proceedings, the psychiatrist denied making such a diagnosis, as only an independent psychiatrist could do so.

Additionally, before arriving at such a conclusion, one would need to verify the incidents first, added the psychiatrist.

Judge found victim credible

The victim's mother also corroborated part of the victim's testimony on Friday, although she told the court that she had never witnessed the accused touching the victim inappropriately, reported CNA.

She said she could recall the incident where the victim fell sick and visited a doctor for her urinary tract infection with the accused.

While the accused defended himself by stating that he might have been applying medications for the infection to the victim, the judge presiding over the case ultimately found the victim credible.

Besides offering sufficient details on the two incidents listed in court documents, the victim's testimony was also not undermined during cross-examinations, added the judge.

Top image via Canva; photo for illustration purposes only