On 20 June, the court gave a 20 months jail sentence for a man who allegedly sexually abused his 10-year-old niece. The man pleaded guilty to three charges: one count of committing an indecent act on a minor and two counts of sexual penetration of a minor.
The accused is not named to protect the identity of the victim.
It was reported that in 2011, the accused, 17 at that time, lived with the girl’s family at her home.
The girl’s parents slept in one room, while the girl, her younger brother, and the accused shared another room.
The girl was 10 at that time.
The accused had allegedly crawled under her blanket one night and performed a sexual act on her for a few minutes. He then proceeded back to sleep.
The victim did not retaliate or told anyone about the incident.
The accused had stayed with the family again and this time shared the same room as the victim, her mother and her brother.
One night in January 2015, when the victim was 14 and accused, 20, was in the same room while she surfed the Internet and he watched an anime show.
Her mother and brother was sleeping in the same room when the accused allegedly touched her inappropriately and penetrated her for a few minutes. He did the same thing a few days later.
The incident started to get known only when the victim spoke to a school counsellor regarding her relationship issues. She had also told a psychiatrist that she felt guilty and angry at herself for what had happened, and for turning him in.
Defence lawyer Favian Kang stated that the victim and the accused had an small age gap of just six years and were “like childhood playmates” and that “things just happened” between them.
District Judge Kessler Soh sentenced the uncle to 20 months’ jail in total.
The culprit could have been jailed for seven years and fined $20,000 or been jailed for 10 years for committing an indecent act and sexual penetration on a minor.
Source: The Straits Times