More than 21 years’ jail for man, 75, who sexually abused daughter, granddaughter
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 02 Apr 2024
Author: Selina Lum
Sister of his wife also fell prey; offences committed when each victim was a child.
A woman who was molested by her father as a child in the 1980s forgave him for the abuse, but a seemingly innocuous incident about 40 years later triggered her memories of what he had done to her.
She and her husband then held a family meeting to tell their daughter and their son that their grandfather had sexually abused her when she was young.
To their shock, the daughter raised her hand and said: “He did the same thing to me.”
The revelations of the abuse against mother and daughter eventually led to the discovery of the man’s sexual offences against his wife’s sister between 1975 and 1980, when she was between six and 12 years old.
On April 1, the man, 75, was sentenced to 21 years and three months’ jail after he pleaded guilty in the High Court to seven charges for various sex offences – two in relation to his daughter and five in relation to his granddaughter.
The most serious charge was one for aggravated sexual assault by penetration, committed on his granddaughter when she was between four and six years old.
Another 28 charges for sex offences in relation to the three victims were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The man’s prison sentence includes a six-month term imposed in lieu of caning. He cannot be caned as he is over the age of 50.
“The accused is a paedophile who sexually abused three vulnerable women in his life across three generations from when they were children,” said deputy public prosecutors Selene Yap and Hidayat Amir in sentencing arguments.
The man cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the identities of the victims. His daughter is now 46 years old, while his granddaughter is now 19.
He assaulted his daughter between 1981 and 1988, from when she was four years old to when she was 12.
Many of the incidents took place at the family flat.
Some of the incidents took place in the pick-up truck that he used to take her to construction sites when he worked as a crane operator between 1984 and 1986.
He occasionally told her after molesting her that he had done these acts out of “love” and that they should keep it a secret.
In 1987, his daughter realised that what he had done to her was wrong after she attended a lesson on sex education.
She did not tell anyone about the abuse, but took preventive measures of her own, such as refusing to go with him to construction sites and locking her room.
During a pilgrimage trip in September 2003, she started to forgive him after observing that he appeared to be repentant.
Between 2009 and 2021, the accused sexually assaulted his granddaughter, from when she was four years old to when she was 17 years old.
The girl and her younger brother started staying with their grandparents during weekdays in 2008, returning home on weekends.
When she was between four and six years old, the man showed her a pornographic video, and told her to mimic the depicted acts.
He then told her not to tell anyone about what had happened.
After some time, he did not have to show her any video, as she would automatically know that she was expected to perform sexual acts on him.
In 2013, the girl’s mother asked her parents to move in with them, and the man continued sexually assaulting his granddaughter.
From 2019 to 2020, the girl went out more frequently to avoid being alone with him, or spent most of her time in school.
On Sept 4, 2021, the man bought a dining light fixture for the flat without asking his daughter.
This angered her, as she felt that he was intruding into her personal space, which triggered memories of his past acts against her.
Over the next few days, she avoided him and prayed for guidance. She decided to tell her husband about the abuse, and he, in turn, told her two brothers about it.
On Sept 13, her brothers confronted their father, who admitted his wrongdoing, but denied that he had abused anyone else.
After he left his daughter’s flat and checked into a hotel, he sent his granddaughter a text message, asking her to help him keep silent over the sexual abuse.
The next day, the man’s daughter lodged a police report about her own abuse, before telling her children why their grandfather was no longer living with them.
Mother and daughter cried after the girl revealed that she had also been abused.
The man was arrested on Sept 15, 2021.
Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
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