A 33-year-old man admitted in the High Court on 14 Apr 2025 that he sexually abused his stepdaughter over more than three years when she was between nine and 12 years old.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of rape, one count of outrage of modesty, and one count of cheating in an unrelated offense.
Six other charges, mostly for sex offenses against the victim, will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced at a later date.
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Both the man and the victim’s biological mother attempted to pressure the girl to retract her allegations after the matter was reported to police.
The victim’s mother blamed her for reporting the abuse and believed her daughter had lied to gain freedom.
Sexual Abuse Against Young Stepdaughter Began in 2017
The court heard that the man and the victim’s mother married in December 2017. The victim, who has two younger sisters, treated him as her father because he was the only male figure in her life.
Her mother viewed him as “responsible” and trusted him to care for all three children.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tin Shu Min told the court that the first sexual assault happened between December 2017 and April 2018, when the victim was nine years old.
While her mother was at work, the man lay down beside the girl on the bottom bunk of a double-decker bed and molested her. Her younger sisters were sleeping on the upper deck at the time.
After this incident, he continued to molest her once or twice a month. The assaults intensified in January or February 2021, when he began forcing her to perform oral sex on him and raped her.
In early 2021, the victim recorded her feelings about the assaults in the Notes app on her phone, writing: “You will be in jail already if I had told anyone about this.”
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The man discovered this note the next day while checking her phone without permission. He threatened to kill her and her mother if she told anyone about the sexual abuse. After she promised not to tell, he deleted the note.
Victim’s Courage Led to Arrest and Further Pressure from Family
By March or April 2021, the victim could no longer withstand the abuse and confided in a friend, who advised her to make a police report. The victim refused out of fear that her stepfather would carry out his threats.
The last assault took place on 14 Jul 2021. Two days later, the victim and her friend devised a plan to report the abuse.
On 17 Jul 2021, during her friend’s birthday celebration, the victim told her friend’s mother about the sexual abuse. The woman called the police, and the man was arrested that night.
When questioned by police, he denied sexually assaulting the victim and claimed she was lying. A forensic test later found the man’s semen on the victim’s blanket.
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On 10 Sep 2021, the victim was placed in a residential home under the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s direction.
Despite being released on bail with conditions not to meet or communicate with the victim, the man and the victim’s mother attempted to obstruct justice on two occasions.
On 21 Jun 2022, the mother forwarded a WhatsApp message from the victim’s caseworker to the man, informing him that prosecutors would interview the girl on 30 Jun 2022.
The woman texted her husband that she would coax the girl to say she had made a mistake.
Two days later, the woman and the man met the victim and told her to claim she had given a false statement because she was “mad” at her stepfather. Feeling pressured, the victim considered running away from home.
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The next evening, thinking she would meet only her mother, the victim agreed to another meeting.
Instead, her mother directed her into a van where her stepfather, sisters, and two uncles were waiting. As the van started moving, the man instructed her to tell prosecutors she wished to drop the case and had given a false statement to police.
Before she left the van, he gave her bubble tea and $80, asking her to tell him if she needed money.
According to a psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health, the victim was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and experiences recurring flashbacks about five to six times a month.
A psychological report found she felt disappointed that her mother didn’t trust her and blamed her for reporting the abuse.
The man, who appeared in court nearly 30 minutes late on 14 Apr 2025, initially asked for an adjournment as he didn’t have a lawyer.
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High Court Judge Dedar Singh Gill pointed out that sufficient time had been given to get legal representation.
The man then pleaded guilty.
Justice Gill gave him four weeks to engage a lawyer and file a mitigation plea. After the hearing, the man’s family member who was his bailor told the court they would no longer post bail for him.
For rape, the most serious charge, the man faces up to 20 years in jail and is also liable to a fine or caning.
All parties in the case cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victim, who is now 16 years old.
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