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singapore
The 59-year-old man pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated rape and two charges of aggravated sexual assault by penetration.
PHOTO: The Straits Times
PUBLISHED ON September 02, 2025 8:46 AM BY Selina Lum
A 59-year-old man who sexually abused his young grandniece over four years was sentenced to 21 years’ jail by the High Court on Sept 1.
The man admitted that he began molesting the girl in 2019 when she was seven years old.
The sexual assaults took place at home, in the back of a van, and even at a cinema.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated rape and two charges of aggravated sexual assault by penetration.
Six other charges, for sexual offences against the victim, were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The man cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Yu Hui told the court that in 2019, the man moved into the unit where the girl lived with her parents, younger brother, grandmother and uncle.
The man had his own room, while the girl slept in the living room.
From 2019 to 2021, he would call the victim into his room and touch her inappropriately.
Given her young age, the victim did not tell anyone about the incidents as she did not understand what the man was doing to her, said the prosecutor.
Emboldened by her silence, the man’s acts became increasingly intrusive.
The man moved out in late 2021, but he continued to commit penetrative sex acts against the victim when he returned to the unit occasionally.
On one such occasion, the man asked the girl, who was then 10, to get him a drink from the fridge in the kitchen.
He followed her and forced her to perform oral sex on him, stopping only when her younger brother walked into the kitchen.
No other adult was at home at the time.
In December 2022, the man invited the girl and her brother to watch a movie.
She did not want to go, but eventually agreed because her brother wanted to watch the movie.
During the screening, the man slid his hand under her clothes and sexually violated her.
She pushed his hand away, and moved to the empty seat beside her brother.
On June 28, 2023, the girl told her school counsellor that she had been sexually abused by her granduncle.
A police report was lodged on the same day.
The man was also arrested on the same day and has been in remand since.
DPP Lim sought 23 to 25 years’ jail for the man, as well as an additional year’s jail in lieu of 24 strokes of the cane.
The man cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old.
The man’s lawyer, Mr Bernard Ee, asked the court to exercise judicial mercy, pointing out that his client has been hospitalised four times for end-stage renal failure since his arrest.
Judicial mercy refers to the courts’ discretionary power to impose a more lenient sentence in exceptional circumstances, such as when imprisonment would endanger the offender’s life.
The lawyer suggested 16 years’ jail if judicial mercy was exercised, and 20 years’ jail if the court decided not to do so.
DPP Lim argued that there was no evidence before the court to show that the exercise of judicial mercy was warranted.
In sentencing, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said she did not take into account the man’s health.
The judge also did not impose any further imprisonment term in lieu of caning, saying that 21 years’ jail was sufficient.
singapore
21 years’ jail for man who sexually assaulted young grandniece at home, cinema
The 59-year-old man pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated rape and two charges of aggravated sexual assault by penetration.
PHOTO: The Straits Times
PUBLISHED ON September 02, 2025 8:46 AM BY Selina Lum
A 59-year-old man who sexually abused his young grandniece over four years was sentenced to 21 years’ jail by the High Court on Sept 1.
The man admitted that he began molesting the girl in 2019 when she was seven years old.
The sexual assaults took place at home, in the back of a van, and even at a cinema.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated rape and two charges of aggravated sexual assault by penetration.
Six other charges, for sexual offences against the victim, were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The man cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Yu Hui told the court that in 2019, the man moved into the unit where the girl lived with her parents, younger brother, grandmother and uncle.
The man had his own room, while the girl slept in the living room.
From 2019 to 2021, he would call the victim into his room and touch her inappropriately.
Given her young age, the victim did not tell anyone about the incidents as she did not understand what the man was doing to her, said the prosecutor.
Emboldened by her silence, the man’s acts became increasingly intrusive.
The man moved out in late 2021, but he continued to commit penetrative sex acts against the victim when he returned to the unit occasionally.
On one such occasion, the man asked the girl, who was then 10, to get him a drink from the fridge in the kitchen.
He followed her and forced her to perform oral sex on him, stopping only when her younger brother walked into the kitchen.
No other adult was at home at the time.
In December 2022, the man invited the girl and her brother to watch a movie.
She did not want to go, but eventually agreed because her brother wanted to watch the movie.
During the screening, the man slid his hand under her clothes and sexually violated her.
She pushed his hand away, and moved to the empty seat beside her brother.
On June 28, 2023, the girl told her school counsellor that she had been sexually abused by her granduncle.
A police report was lodged on the same day.
The man was also arrested on the same day and has been in remand since.
DPP Lim sought 23 to 25 years’ jail for the man, as well as an additional year’s jail in lieu of 24 strokes of the cane.
The man cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old.
The man’s lawyer, Mr Bernard Ee, asked the court to exercise judicial mercy, pointing out that his client has been hospitalised four times for end-stage renal failure since his arrest.
Judicial mercy refers to the courts’ discretionary power to impose a more lenient sentence in exceptional circumstances, such as when imprisonment would endanger the offender’s life.
The lawyer suggested 16 years’ jail if judicial mercy was exercised, and 20 years’ jail if the court decided not to do so.
DPP Lim argued that there was no evidence before the court to show that the exercise of judicial mercy was warranted.
In sentencing, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said she did not take into account the man’s health.
The judge also did not impose any further imprisonment term in lieu of caning, saying that 21 years’ jail was sufficient.
