S'pore man, 38, got into sexual relationship with niece, 13, used blindfold & rope on her, given 21 years’ jail & caning

A 38-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 21 years' jail and 16 strokes of the cane on Aug. 3 after getting into a sexual relationship with his 13-year-old niece and sexually exploiting her.

He faced a total of 23 charges.

According to a report by CNA, the man pleaded guilty to six charges, including statutory rape and sexual assault, while the remaining 17 were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The man cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victim's identity.

Grew closer after the girl's 13th birthday

Court documents seen by Mothership revealed that the man shared a close relationship with his brother, who is the victim's father.

At the time of the offences, he was in a relationship with a woman whom he later married in May 2024.

However, the pair were not living together.

He had been living with his grandmother until her death, after which he moved into his own home.

Before the victim turned 13, she only interacted with her uncle during family gatherings and special occasions.

In September 2022, he took her out to celebrate her 13th birthday and gave her a ride on his motorcycle.

The girl said she enjoyed it and wanted to do it again, so he took her out for supper several days later.

While they were out, the girl saw her ex-boyfriend.

She then told her uncle that when they were together, he had touched her sexually and that she did not take issue with it.

After this, the pair grew closer and the girl began visiting her uncle after school.

On one occasion, he molested her and asked if that was what her ex-boyfriend had done.

Though she was shocked, the girl did not react or resist.

According to court documents, the pair subsequently regarded themselves as being in a romantic relationship from Oct. 13, 2022.

They exchanged romantic messages daily, kissed, and engaged in sex acts.

During a family trip to Genting Highlands, Malaysia, around November 2022, the man molested the girl while they were alone in his room.

Had sex about four times a week

In that same month, the victim obtained her parent's permission to stay overnight at her uncle's place.

By then, the man was living alone after his grandmother's death.

He had bought soju, which he and the girl drank together that night.

They then engaged in sexual acts.

The man initially attempted to have sexual intercourse with the girl, but could not.

He subsequently did it the following morning.

After this, the pair had sex about four times a week at his home.

The man also used sex toys and bondage equipment, including a blindfold, feather and rope, on the girl.

He also went out to eat and shop with the victim, but avoided behaving intimately when other family members were present.

In 2023, the victim's parents allowed her to go on a staycation with the man.

He brought alcohol and sex toys along, and the pair had sex at a hotel.

They continued seeing each other in 2024, with the teenager visiting him after school.

During this period, he joked about committing incest with her.

Girl started dating a schoolmate

In January 2024, the victim got to know a schoolmate identified in court documents only as "A1".

The pair grew closer and entered a romantic relationship, and the girl gradually reduced her visits to her uncle.

The man noticed the change in her behaviour and found out about A1.

Dismayed, he urged the victim to end the relationship with the boy.

Despite this, he continued engaging in sexual activity with her.

In May 2024, when the victim was 14, he engaged in sexual acts with the victim as punishment for interacting with A1.

He told her she had made a mistake and needed to repay him. If she refused, she would have to break up with A1.

Not wanting to end her relationship with A1, the girl complied with her uncle's demands.

According to court documents, the abuse continued even though the victim experienced pain during sex.

In June 2024, the pair went on another hotel staycation, where they engaged in sexual intercourse.

Threatened to leak nude photos and videos

In August 2024, the man went through the victim's phone while she was asleep and discovered a TikTok account that she had only shared with A1.

Enraged, he scolded her for not putting as much effort into their relationship.

He then told her he would pretend he had not seen the account if she agreed to engage in sexual acts with him.

While driving her home later that day, he told her to break up with A1, causing her to cry.

He diverted to a shopping mall in an attempt to calm her down, but shouted at her out of frustration.

He also told her that he did not want her and A1 to end up studying at the same polytechnic and said he would continue controlling her life even while she was in university.

The victim later left the vehicle and went to a nearby toilet, where she cried.

The man continued messaging her, saying she appeared to love A1 more than him.

In early August 2024, after the victim told him she would not break up with A1, he threatened to leak nude photographs and videos that he had taken of her without her consent.

On at least five occasions, he threatened to upload them to a pornographic website, send them to her friends or circulate them on Telegram.

He also claimed he was prepared to go to jail if necessary, although he ultimately did not distribute the material.

The victim eventually agreed to cut contact with A1 in an attempt to placate her uncle.

He initially demanded that she publicly announce the breakup on social media, but later dropped it.

When she told A1 what had happened, he described her uncle's behaviour as "out of line".

Court documents showed that the victim tried to end the relationship with her uncle at least eight times.

Each time, however, he guilt-tripped her into staying, telling her that he was depressed and wanted to end his life.

Informed her teacher

On Aug. 6, 2024, exhausted by her uncle's manipulative behaviour towards her, the victim told a teacher that she had been in an intimate relationship with him.

The matter was referred to the Child Protection Services under the Ministry of Social and Family Development, which subsequently lodged a police report.

On the same day the victim reported the matter to her teacher, the man went to the victim's school to wait for her.

When he saw her being escorted into a vehicle at about 6pm, he realised that their inappropriate relationship had likely been discovered.

He was arrested the following day.

Prosecution: Man robbed his niece of her innocence

The prosecution sought 19-and-a-half to 21 years' jail and at least 16 strokes of the cane for the man.

They said the man had "kept up a façade of being nothing but a caring uncle", while blatantly and repeatedly violating her parents' trust:

"Capitalising on his easy access to her, he robbed her of her innocence by taking her virginity when she was 13 years old and habituated her to all kinds of illicit sexual activity with him."

The prosecution added that the man had no excuse for his "sordid" conduct, and that his actions should be met with the full force of the law.

According to CNA, the defence sought 16 years' jail and 16 strokes of the cane instead.

The defence counsel said his client had admitted to all the offences, apologised to the victim's parents and personally apologised to his brother.

He added that his client's sister-in-law had initially been unwilling to meet him at the time, but eventually did so.

The defence further argued that a significant mitigating factor was that his client's guilty plea spared the victim from having to testify in court and relive her trauma.

The judge asked whether that consideration had already been reflected in the usual sentencing discount of up to 30 per cent for an early guilty plea, and the defence counsel agreed that it had.

The judge did not give any additional weight to the man's remorse.

For each charge of statutory rape, the man could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.