S'pore mother, 66, & ex-lover, 74, acquitted of sexual assault during massages & ritual showers

A 66-year-old woman and her former lover, a 74-year-old man, were acquitted of all charges on Sep. 30 that they sexually abused the woman’s daughter more than a decade ago, reported The Straits Times.

Justice Pang Khang Chau ruled that the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

He also found that the complainant’s evidence lacked the “unusually convincing” standard required, according to CNA.

This was due to several inconsistencies and shifts in her evidence, which made her "not sufficiently credible".

Allegations of abuse in previous trial

The pair, whose identities are withheld under a gag order to protect the complainant, had been accused of conspiring to sexually exploit the girl between 2012 and 2017.

The man faced 15 charges, including sexual exploitation, outrage of modesty and showing pornographic videos to a young person.

The woman, on the other hand, faced 13 charges, including conspiring with him, along with a charge of showing her daughter pornography.

The complainant, now 24, was between 10 and 16 years old during the period of the alleged offences.

The complainant is the youngest of four children and lived with her parents and siblings in a flat.

Prosecutors told the court that the complainant would testify about years of escalating abuse.

Sexual massages

The complainant first got to know the man in 2009 when she was a primary two student.

At the time, the man coached the lion dance troupe that her brother was a part of.

He also provided massages at a clinic he owned in a temple.

The man would give both the mother and her daughter massages at his clinic, a practice that later continued at their family home after the clinic closed.

Prosecutors said that it was at home when the alleged sexual abuse began, according to a CNA report.

Although she voiced her discomfort, she was told by her mother to keep quiet and obey, reported ST.

The complainant said that the man sexually violated her by massaging her groin, "treating" her irregular menstruation.

When she kicked around to prevent such acts, her mother would hold her down by the ankles.

The man then eventually began massaging her, clad only in boxers, and asked her to massage him as well.

The girl’s mother encouraged this by telling her she should do so since the man frequently came over to give them free massages.

Other charges

The complainant also said that her mother made her watch pornographic videos with her when she was in primary four.

When she was in secondary two and three, they would allegedly watch pornographic movies together on the man’s mobile phone.

The couple were also said to have had sex in the girl’s presence, during which she averted her attention by looking at her phone.

When the complainant asked why she was made to watch, her mother allegedly said it was so she could eventually learn how to have sex with the man.

Starting from August 2017, the man began conducting prayers in order to “rid” the girl of evil spirits.

After conducting several prayer sessions, the man reportedly told the girl's mother that a “ritual shower” was necessary to rid the girl of her “bad luck”.

The mother assisted the man by undressing her daughter for these showers at their flat.

The ritual involved the complainant sitting naked on a wooden stool while the man scooped water and chanted over her head.

The man also brushed his hand and a lime over the girl's body, before allegedly ending with a sexually intrusive act.

The girl’s two brothers also testified that the man massaged their sister regularly in the master bedroom with their mother present.

One of the brothers also testified that he had caught his mother showing his sister pornography and later saw the man massaging her while wearing only boxers.

The girl lodged a police report in November 2017 after confiding in her boyfriend.

Judge’s findings

On Sep. 30, Judge Pang rejected the prosecution’s case.

He stated that a police statement alleged to be an admission by the man was not reliable.

The man also denied admitting to sexually assaulting the girl to the police, saying that his police statement referred instead to using his finger to clean discharge around her private parts.

After hearing testimony from both accused persons and the investigation officer, along with reviewing a video of the man’s demonstration at the police station, Justice Pang found there was reasonable doubt over whether the man and the officer had been “speaking at cross purposes”.

As such, he ruled it would be unsafe to treat the statement as an admission.

The judge also found that the complainant's account of penetration lasting about five seconds was more consistent with the man’s explanation that he was attempting to clean her body, rather than an act of sexual assault.

He further accepted the man’s evidence that the cramped bathroom conditions, along with the items he was holding during the ritual showers, made it unlikely that an assault could have occurred.

The judge also accepted the man’s explanation that the girl could not have clearly seen the man performing a sex act on her, and therefore could not be certain that a sex act had actually taken place.

Regarding the charge of showing pornography to the complainant, the man denied doing so and claimed that the girl had taken his phone and viewed the videos on her own.

Justice Pang again found there was "reasonable doubt" over whether he had actively shown the material to her.

"In this regard, viewing the conflicting evidence of the complainant and the (man), I am not persuaded that the charge has been proven beyond reasonable doubt," said Justice Pang, as quoted by CNA.

Given the judge’s finding that the man had not committed the various sexual acts, the woman’s 12 charges for conspiring with the man were similarly not established.

Her remaining 13th charge concerned showing pornography to her daughter when the girl was in primary four.

The girl claimed this had occurred at that time, but the woman denied it.

She maintained that she had only shown her daughter pornography later, when the girl was in secondary two, as a way of teaching her about sex after she opted out of sex education classes in school.

Justice Pang noted that the girl’s recollection of when the incident occurred was unreliable.

As the timing did not align with the charge, he ruled that the charge was not proven.

The prosecution said it had to consider whether to file a notice of appeal, which can be done within two weeks.

The man and woman were free to go in the meantime.

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