SINGAPORE — It started with “non-intrusive” acts, such as hugging and kissing his stepdaughter.

Emboldened by her silence, the man started molesting the primary school girl — who was on the cusp of puberty then — and made her perform various sexual acts on him.

The abuse escalated as she got older. The touching happened almost every other day, and the sexual acts took place once a week. All this while, he warned her to tell no one.

On Monday (Sept 10), the 45-year-old man — who cannot be named to protect the identity of his stepdaughter, now 23 — was handed a jail sentence of seven years and six months after pleading guilty to three counts of his offences, which District Judge Kenneth Yap called a “prolonged and systemic pattern of abuse”.

Another two counts of similar offences were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that the man, whose occupation is not known, has been married to the girl’s mother for more than 20 years, since she was three.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sruthi Boppana said the sexual abuse began some time after the girl reached puberty in upper primary school in 2004, before escalating between 2007 and 2010 when the girl was in secondary school.

Between 2011 and 2013, when she was in polytechnic, the stepfather stopped telling her to remove her clothes, and started molesting her without asking.

DPP Sruthi said he committed these acts when he was alone with the victim, while the rest of her family was either asleep or not at home.

Fearing reprisal, she did not let anyone in her family know. She broke her silence only after her stepfather became violent with her.

ARGUMENT

On the night of Sept 7 in 2014, she informed her stepfather that she was reaching home soon from work.

When she got to her block, she noticed him waiting for her at the void deck of the housing block.

He got her to follow him to an open space at a nearby lift lobby, and asked her to perform sexual acts on him. She refused, and an argument broke out.

Asked why she had rejected him, she said that she did not like it. She also denied having a boyfriend when asked.

Infuriated by her responses, he hit her on the left side of her head and kicked her.

When one of his shoes flew off his feet, he used it to smack her left shoulder, stopping only when she apologised.

After she reached home, her mother and brother noticed that she was in tears, and she told them that she was hit by her stepfather.

While being taken to hospital to be examined, she finally told of the sexual abuse. Three days later, she lodged a police report against her stepfather.

A counselling report revealed that the victim had been “visibly traumatised” by the incidents, exhibiting signs of emotional trauma such as lack of sleep and disassociation.

A forensic psychiatric report revealed that the man suffered from paedophilic disorder, and had alcohol issues.

ROBBED VICTIM OF INNOCENCE

Calling for a jail sentence of at least seven years and six months, DPP Sruthi noted the “significant” abuse of trust on the stepfather's part.

“The accused’s repeated commission of reprehensible sexual acts on the victim was a complete betrayal of the trust that both the victim and the victim’s mother had reposed in him,” she said.

The man had “fully exploited (her) vulnerability and weakened mental state as he persisted in sexually abusing her for years”, she added.

The man, who was not represented in court, asked for a lenient sentence, claiming that he committed all these acts because he had alcohol issues, and was under great pressure.

However, District Judge Yap was not persuaded. “You subjugated her to your perverse needs and desires when she was just 12. You planned this series of abuse, then you threatened her,” he said. “What kind of a father or man are you?”

“You robbed her of her innocence, and left her with deep emotional scars,” he added.

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