8.5 years’ imprisonment for sexually abusing young daughter

A 52-year-old Singaporean cleaner, a repeat drug offender, was sentenced to 18½ years in jail after pleading guilty to four charges of sexual assault by penetration of a minor, drug consumption and possession of obscene and uncertified film.

• He pleaded guilty in the State Courts of Singapore and sentenced to jail for 18½ years. He pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual assault by penetration of a minor, drug consumption and possession of obscene and uncertified film. Another eight charges for sexual offences were taken into consideration.
• His jail sentence includes a six-month term in lieu of 15 strokes of the cane, as he cannot be caned on account of his age.
• Since 1989, the man has undergone multiple stints of drug rehabilitation and supervision. He was also convicted in 2004 of having sex with a minor.
• In 2015, he began sexually assaulting the youngest of his three daughters, usually when the two older girls were asleep at night. She was six years old at the time.
• He was not represented by a Criminal Defence Lawyer during the presentation of his mitigation plea.

Sexual penetration of minor under 16 is an offence under section 376A of the Penal Code (Cap 224) which states:

376A.—(1) Any person (A) who —
(a) penetrates, with A’s penis, the vagina, anus or mouth, as the case may be, of a person under 16 years of age (B);
(b) sexually penetrates, with a part of A’s body (other than A’s penis, if a man) or anything else, the vagina or anus, as the case may be, of a person under 16 years of age (B);
(c) causes a man under 16 years of age (B) to penetrate, with B’s penis, the vagina, anus or mouth, as the case may be, of another person including A; or
(d) causes a person under 16 years of age (B) to sexually penetrate, with a part of B’s body (other than B’s penis, if a man) or anything else, the vagina or anus, as the case may be, of any person including A or B, shall be guilty of an offence.

A person who commits this against a person who is under 14 years of age shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years and shall also be liable to fine or to caning.

More information on the case may be found here.