29-11-2023 (SINGAPORE) In a harrowing case that highlights the vulnerable position of a teenage girl, a 39-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and nine strokes of the cane on Tuesday (Nov 28) for sexually grooming and assaulting a 16-year-old girl who had already endured a traumatic past.
Due to legal reasons, the man’s identity cannot be disclosed to protect the victim’s privacy. The court heard that the man, under the pretense of providing “healing” touch, sexually groomed the teenager before subjecting her to regular sexual assaults.
The man pleaded guilty to four counts of exploitative sexual penetration of a minor aged 16 or 17, with an additional nine charges taken into consideration. This marks the first prosecution under Section 376AA of the Penal Code, which deals with exploitative sexual penetration of minors aged 16 or 17.
The victim, now 19 years old, had suffered immense emotional trauma at a young age. In 2017, when she was only 13, her mother tragically took her own life by stabbing herself in front of the girl. The incident left the girl with adjustment disorder and a deep sense of depression, as diagnosed by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
Compounding her pain, the girl’s father, who deemed her mother unfit, forbade her and her siblings from mourning or shedding tears at the funeral. He insisted that the girl attend religious teachings with the aim of becoming a medium, but she later converted to another religion, causing further distress to her father.
The abuse by her own father began in January 2018, just months after her mother’s death. This traumatic experience led the girl to overdose on medication and resulted in her admission to IMH, where she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Fortunately, in March 2018, the girl was removed from her father’s care and placed under the guardianship of a family friend. During this time, she ceased engaging in self-harm. However, tragedy struck again when a close friend died by suicide in June 2018, causing the girl’s self-harming behavior to resurface.
Recognizing the need for specialized care, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) placed the girl in a treatment center designed to assist teenage girls who have experienced trauma or abuse in reintegrating into society.
It was during her stay at the treatment center that the accused, a 39-year-old married man with two sons, came into contact with the victim. Working as a manager at a company that conducted camps for children, the man initially met the girl in September 2018 while running a program at the center. Subsequently, he proposed adopting the girl, with his wife’s approval. Following a comprehensive assessment that deemed his family suitable caregivers, they began regularly meeting the victim.
The news of the prospective adoption brought great joy and excitement to the girl, who had never experienced the love and stability of a genuine family before. She shared her optimism for the future with her psychologist, expressing her happiness at having found a family that truly cared for her.
Prior to the sexual grooming, the accused and his wife were briefed by the girl’s psychologist about her mental condition and past trauma. In December 2019, the girl started staying overnight at the offender’s residence as part of a “home leave” arrangement. It was during this time that the man initiated sexual advances, requesting the girl to undress for an “activity” involving a mirror before molesting her.
The sexual abuse continued to escalate, with the man molesting the girl as she slept between him and his wife. He justified his actions by claiming that “touch need not be sexual; it could be for healing.” Eventually, the man began sexually assaulting the girl almost daily, causing her to suffer panic attacks during the assaults.
Despite the ongoing adoption process, the man persisted in his sexual abuse, exposing the victim to pornography and coercing her into engaging in sexual acts. In November 2020, the girl confronted the offender while they were in a car together, questioning why he failed to treat her as his daughter. She expressed her feeling of being used and believed that his actions were unfair to his wife.
The impact on the girl’s mental and emotional well-being was devastating. She developed an aversion to intimacy, marriage, and any form of sexual involvement due to the offender’s actions. The sexual incidents left her overwhelmed with shame and guilt, leading to self-harming behaviors, suicidal thoughts, and instances of overdosing.
On November 27, 2020, the girl sent a message to the offender, expressing her emptiness and feeling of being used. She conveyed her struggle to live with herself and her inability to coexist with him. Remarkably, during the time the man was assaulting her, he was still engaging in sexual intercourse with his wife, who eventually became pregnant.
