A 32-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges that include penetrating his 12-year-old stepdaughter and assaulting her.
He was sentenced on Thursday (3 August) to 10 years imprisonment as well as 12 strokes of the cane for his offences, according to The Straits Times.
What happened?
The victim lived with her mother, stepfather (the accused), her 6 siblings, uncle and grandparents, together in a flat – she was described as being close to the accused and would confide in him when she had problems.
on 26 April 2022, she had went out to play with her friends after school at about 4pm and was on her way home about 2 hours later when when chanced upon her stepfather at the void deck.
The man was upset that the victim had returned home later and slapped her in the face, before pulling her hair.
They then got into the lift but instead of pressing the lift button for the 7th floor where they lived, the man pressed the button for the highest floor of the block, the 15th floor, because it was secluded.
Upon reaching the 15th floor, the man asked the girl about her chat on Instagram with a 15-year-old boy about having intercourse.
He then asked her if she wanted to have intercourse with other people, to which the girl then said no.
The man then told the victim that he wanted to perform a “check” on her, and he then penetrated the victim, before they made their way back home.
He then told the victim not to tell anyone about what happened, but she then told her classmates about what happened and one of them told her to tell their school counsellor about what had happened.
The vice principal of the girl’s school was also made aware of the incident and the victim then lodged a police report about the incident with the vice principal and officers from the Child Protective Services.