Deliveryman gets jail, 15 strokes for sexual abuse of daughter
He forced 13-year-old to perform sex acts for two months while wife was at work
A man who was often alone with the children at home while his wife was at work forced his 13-year-old daughter to perform sexual acts over a period of two months.
The girl did not dare to tell her mother as she was worried doing so would tear her family apart.
The incidents came to light when the girl confided in some friends in school who reported the matter to a school counsellor on Jan 30 last year.
The man, 38, was yesterday sentenced to 11 years in jail and 15 strokes of the cane for committing sexual assault involving penetration and using criminal force on a person with intent to outrage modesty.
Three other similar charges were taken into consideration.
Details about the family cannot be disclosed as the daughter, now 15, is covered under the Children and Young Persons Act and cannot be identified.
The teen's ordeal began in December 2019 after her mother, who was the main breadwinner of the family, took up a new job that required her to work for most of the day and return home at night, according to court documents.
Her father, a part-time food deliveryman, would stay home to look after the teen and her siblings. It was then that he began sexually touching his daughter without her consent many times over the course of two months.
In one incident, he molested the teen while lying between her and her sister on a mattress in the living room while they were taking a nap. He stopped only after she threatened to tell her mother about it.
The prosecution said: "She also felt fear and disappointment, that someone entrusted to protect her should thus violate her."
The girl ran away from home on three occasions in December 2019 and often stayed out late after school when classes resumed in January last year, the prosecution added.
A medical report by the Child Guidance Clinic said the girl felt hurt by the incidents and resorted to cutting herself. She also expressed suicidal thoughts, it added.
The Institute of Mental Health reported that the father was not suffering from a mental illness at the time of the offences and does not have a paedophilic disorder.
Deputy public prosecutors Grace Teo and Hon Yi had sought 11 years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane for the man.
They said: "When a girl begins her teenage years, home is where she should expect to be safe, and where she should enjoy the support of her parents while entering this new phase in her life."
In his mitigation plea, defence lawyer Ashvin Hariharan said the man was genuinely remorseful and had been cooperative.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now