S'porean man, 44, sexually abuses 4 daughters over 15 years, 1 victim's mother didn't believe her when she confided in her

A 44-year-old Singaporean man who sexually abused four of his daughters over 15 years was sentenced on Oct. 8 to 16.5 years' jail and 22 strokes of the cane.

The victims between 2008 and 2023 consisted of two of the man's biological daughters and two of his stepdaughters.

The Straits Times reported that the man pleaded guilty on Oct. 8 to one charge of aggravated statutory rape and two charges of aggravated outrage of modesty, with seven other charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

Court documents seen by Mothership stated that the man has eight biological children and stepchildren from three marriages.

He cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victims' identities.

Stepdaughter from 1st marriage

Court documents stated that in 2008, when the man was still married to his second wife, his first known victim was his stepdaughter, around 12, from his first marriage.

Sometime in 2008, the man molested her after entering her bedroom. She told her mother, but she did not believe her.

The girl was afraid that the police would not believe her, and ended up not lodging a report at the time.

Biological daughter from 1st marriage

The man's next known incident of sexual assault involved his biological daughter from his first marriage, who was 17 at the time.

Sometime in 2020, the man entered the room the teen was in, while carrying another daughter who was 10 months old.

At the time, the teen was lying on her stomach while using her phone.

The man then placed the 10-month-old infant on the teen's back while kneeling down on top of her body.

He then sexually assaulted her.

Court documents stated that the teen was shocked at his actions and felt unsafe around the man ever since, but did not lodge a police report as her family did not want her to.

She was also afraid of getting disowned or kicked out of the house by her family if she went against their wishes.

His offence came to light after the teen told a hospital medical social worker about it.

A child protection officer from the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF) Child Protective Service eventually lodged a police report about the offence on Mar. 1, 2024.

Biological daughter from 2nd marriage

In November 2021, while the man was married to his third wife, he molested his biological daughter from his second marriage, who was 13 at the time and staying at his flat overnight.

He lay next to the girl on a mattress and reached under her clothes to molest her.

He only stopped when someone called him from outside the room.

The girl initially did not tell anyone about the sexual assault as she felt afraid, but later lodged a police report on Jan. 1, 2022.

Stepdaughter from 3rd marriage

Court documents stated that the man also assaulted his stepdaughter from his third marriage repeatedly between 2020 and 2023.

Sometime in 2023, when the girl was eight to nine years old, the man was playing a video game with her in the living room.

He exposed himself to her before telling her to perform a sexual act on him, to which she complied and returned to playing the game as she was unable to comprehend the significance of his instructions at the time.

The man rubbed himself against her a few weeks later while playing a game of wrestling with her in a bedroom.

On Nov. 14, 2024, the girl was lying down on the bed in a guest room and watching TikTok videos on her phone.

At the time, the man who was standing near the master bedroom door did a lewd act while looking at the girl.

She could see him from her room and recorded a 32-second video of him as she felt his actions were wrong.

She sent the video to her friend via TikTok, who told her to call the police.

She was unwilling to do so as she did not want anything to happen to her family.

However, after her friend informed a teacher about the video, MSF was eventually notified, and a child protection officer lodged a police report on Nov. 15, 2024.

The man was arrested the same day.

Justification for sentencing

In noting the man's "clear proclivity towards sexually exploiting his four children", the prosecution argued that running the three proceeded charges consecutively was fully justified in this case.

"Each of his offences involve a gross abuse of the trust that the accused's children had placed in him," the prosecution said.

With the exception of one girl, the other offences were committed against vulnerable victims.

In addition, the man's sexual exploitation of one girl began as early as 2020 or 2021, when she was only five to seven years old.