SINGAPORE - A 55-year-old man was found guilty on Wednesday of outraging the modesty of his stepdaughter, then eight or nine years old, and making her perform a sex act.
The case came to light in 2021 after the girl confided in her babysitter. The babysitter told the girl’s mother, who filed a police report.
At the time of the offenses, the man was married to the victim's mother. The family lived in a one-room flat, later moving to a larger unit on the same floor. The couple divorced in 2022.
One night in 2016 or 2017, during the move, the man asked the girl to accompany him to perform prayers for the new home. Armed with a book and a carrot, he took her to the new unit, locked the gate, and blindfolded her, tying her hands. He used the carrot to trick her into performing a sex act.
The girl eventually told him she needed to use the toilet, and he untied her. She ran home and told her mother, who confronted the man.
A 2022 IMH report found the man was not of unsound mind at the time and aware his actions were wrong, according to the prosecution.
The victim suffered from suicidal tendencies and insomnia, worrying about her studies due to missed lessons from the abuse.
The man will be sentenced on July 15. He faces 8 to 20 years’ jail for making his stepdaughter perform a sex act.