Man jailed 15 years for raping girlfriend's daughter, 12
He took care of her when she was a toddler.
She even called him "daddy" even though he was not her biological father.
When the girl and her mother came to Singapore in 2000, the man, who was then their neighbour's husband, was the one who found them a place to stay.
By June 2000, he had left his wife and entered into a relationship with the girl's mother, moving in with them at their flat in the east of Singapore.
But this trusted man would later rob the child of her innocence.
Initially, he behaved like a father figure - looking after the girl who was then in pre-school while her mum worked the night shift.
The three of them would sleep on the same bed too.
Nine years later, in 2009, the man, then 45, ended up betraying the child's and her mother's trust by raping the 12-year-old girl at home.
Yesterday, the man, now 50, was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 15 years' jail for aggravated statutory rape.
A second charge of aggravated statutory rape was taken into consideration.
It was not mentioned in court which country the woman was originally from.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim's identity, was spared the cane due to his age.
He pleaded guilty in Hokkien through a translator.
RASHES
The rape was only discovered two years later when the girl, then 14, complained to her guardians at a childcare centre about recurring rashes on her private parts.
She was taken to a hospital in May 2011, and after some reluctance, she admitted she had had sex with the man in 2009.
She then made a police report.
Her nightmare began when she returned home one weekend between March and June 2009.
She would normally stay at a childcare centre near her primary school on weekdays and return to her flat only during weekends.
Her mother was at work when the rape occurred one afternoon.
The girl was resting on her bed in her room when the man lay beside her.
He asked her in Mandarin: "Daddy is very tired. Do you want to go to bed with me?"
She declined and told him to go to Geylang instead.
He told her not to "talk rubbish", fondled her breasts and ordered her to remove her clothes.
She followed his instructions out of fear that he would hit her if she disobeyed, court papers revealed.
The man had once threatened to throw a chair at her when she made a mistake.
The former technician then penetrated her without a condom.
He later made her promise not to tell her mother what had happened.
The accused should have showered love and care on the victim... He chose to violate her sexually in her home, and caused her irreparable emotional harm.
- Deputy Public Prosecutor Ramesh Ethan Ananda
Victim now has difficulty trusting others
Emotional scars have already emerged.
A psychiatrist who examined the victim, who is now 18, said she has been "feeling sad, irritable and angry" after the rape.
Her victim impact statement was disclosed in court and stated that she felt inferior.
The victim also has difficulty trusting and confiding in others as her mother, who is the person closest to her, did not believe her when she initially revealed what had happened.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ramesh Ethan Ananda said: "The accused should have showered love and care on the victim... He chose to violate her sexually in her home and caused her irreparable emotional harm."
In a letter to Justice Woo Bih Li, the man said: "I hope that a chance will be given to me to undo the damage and to pay my penance for what I had done."
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