His
girlfriend introduced her teenage daughter to him and the girl referred to him
as her "stepfather".
But the
31-year-old man abused their trust and molested the 15-year-old after offering
to perform "spiritual cleansing" on her.
The man, who
cannot be named to protect the girl's identity, was jailed yesterday for 15
months and ordered to receive three strokes of the cane.
He pleaded
guilty to two counts of outrage of modesty.
Deputy
Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jason Lim said that the girl stayed with her uncle for
about three months after her parents divorced.
She moved in
with her mother and her boyfriend at their one-room rented flat in the southern
part of Singapore on Oct 16 last year.
On her first
night, the mother and her boyfriend, who worked in an online business, had a
discussion where they agreed the girl needed "spiritual cleansing".
It is not
known why.
"(The
mother) did not agree or consent for the accused to touch the victim's private
parts," DPP Lim said.
The court
heard that the woman later told her daughter about the "spiritual
cleansing", but the girl kept quiet and went to sleep.
TOUCHED
HER
The girl was
sleeping between the couple in their living room when she was woken at about
3am the next day when she felt someone touching her.
She realised
that the man's hand was underneath her T-shirt and he was touching her stomach
area. The man then moved his hand to touch her left breast.
The girl
stayed still throughout the ordeal as she was shocked and did not know what to
do, the court heard.
The man
slipped his hand into her shorts and continued molesting her.
Said DPP
Lim: "At this point, the victim then got up and walked away to the sofa
area. She remained there and played with her (mobile phone) until about 5.30am
before leaving for school."
The girl
went to an aunt's house later that day and told her what happened.
The aunt
took her to MacPherson Neighbourhood Police Post that evening for the girl to
lodge a report.
In
mitigation, the man's lawyer, Mr Mohamed Baiross, told District Judge Kamala
Ponnampalam that his client was "truly remorseful".
The girl's
mother was in court yesterday and she spoke to her boyfriend for about five
minutes after the judge sentenced him. She declined to speak to reporters.
For each
count of outrage of modesty, the man could have been jailed for up to two
years, or fined or caned or receive any combination of such punishments.
Article from: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/man-molests-girlfriends-daughter-after-offering-spiritual-cleansing#sthash.jOKKFkwK.dpuf
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