SINGAPORE: A man accused of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's daughter in a van parked near cemeteries and in her home claimed trial to his charges in the High Court on Tuesday (Apr 8).
The alleged sexual abuse against the girl, then aged between 10 and 11, went on for close to a year, the prosecution said at the opening of the trial.
The man, 52, is contesting seven charges, comprising four counts of sexual penetration, two of molest and one of sexual exploitation with a child.
While born in Singapore, the man is stateless, with investigations revealing that he had lost his documentation, the prosecution told the court.
He cannot be named due to a gag order.
However, Justice Aidan Xu @ Aedit Abdullah questioned the need for the accused's identity to be redacted. The judge asked if the alleged victim was still living with the accused, to which Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En said no.
Justice Xu then asked why the court was protecting his identity, and Mr Tay replied that the alleged victim resided with the accused for at least a year. The judge has asked the prosecution to rethink the application of the gag order to the accused.
The gag order remains on the alleged victim, who is expected to testify on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the prosecution, the accused was the boyfriend of the victim's mother, who was divorced.
The accused is alleged to have preyed on the girl at the rental flat they shared, and in a rented van that was parked at either the Christian or Muslim cemetery in Lim Chu Kang.
The couple would use the van for work in the cemeteries, and the victim and her younger brother would follow them after school.
When they stayed overnight at the cemetery, the family would sleep in the van. The mother and accused would sleep in the front while the children would take a makeshift sofa behind.
The accused would often prey on the girl while everyone was asleep, said the prosecution.
According to the victim, in February 2021, she woke up in the wee hours of the morning in her home to the accused molesting her. She asked him to stop, to no avail.
He allegedly repeated the acts and sexually assaulted her a few days later again in her home.
In May 2021, he supposedly sexually assaulted the girl while in the van, while he was in the reclined driver's seat, according to the victim.
The victim spoke to her brother, whom she believed saw the incident. She decided then that she would tell her mother about the abuse after her birthday.
On another occasion in 2021, the accused asked the victim to accompany him to the Christian cemetery to get water. He allegedly made the victim perform a sexual act on him, according to the prosecution.
After this, as the two were on the way back to the Muslim cemetery, the victim asked if she could play with her phone, and the accused then asked the victim for the same sexual act and she complied, the prosecution said.
The victim mustered the courage to confide in her mother after her 11th birthday, but she was "not believed", the prosecution said.
The accused denied the offences and continued to have access to her, resulting in more offences against the girl in January 2022, the prosecution said.
He is said to have sexually assaulted the girl on Jan 3, 2022 while they were both in the van parked near a shelter at the Muslim cemetery.
In February 2022, the victim had a stayover with a half-sister from her biological father's previous marriage.
Her mother then asked her to return home early, but the reluctant girl started crying. She confided in her half-sister.
A police report was lodged on Feb 3, 2022 and the accused was arrested the next day.
The prosecution said it would lead evidence from 25 witnesses.
The first witness to testify on Tuesday was psychiatrist Bernadine Woo Siew Choo, a senior consultant from the Child Guidance Clinic at the Institute of Mental Health. She evaluated the alleged victim on Aug 26, 2022 to see if she was fit to testify in court.
In her report, the psychiatrist stated that she found the victim consistent and coherent during their interview.
The victim told Dr Woo that she was "fearful" and "angry" and had recurrent thoughts about the alleged abuse.
She has also developed a fear of men and has difficulty trusting people, which led the psychiatrist to think that the girl would have problems with interpersonal relationships later in life.
The psychiatrist concluded that the girl was fit to testify in court as she was able to recount events coherently, could speak fluently, and did not contradict herself.
The trial continues on Tuesday with the alleged victim expected to testify in camera. The accused is represented by lawyer Teo Choo Kee.
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The alleged sexual abuse against the girl, then aged between 10 and 11, went on for close to a year, the prosecution said at the opening of the trial.
The man, 52, is contesting seven charges, comprising four counts of sexual penetration, two of molest and one of sexual exploitation with a child.
While born in Singapore, the man is stateless, with investigations revealing that he had lost his documentation, the prosecution told the court.
He cannot be named due to a gag order.
However, Justice Aidan Xu @ Aedit Abdullah questioned the need for the accused's identity to be redacted. The judge asked if the alleged victim was still living with the accused, to which Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En said no.
Justice Xu then asked why the court was protecting his identity, and Mr Tay replied that the alleged victim resided with the accused for at least a year. The judge has asked the prosecution to rethink the application of the gag order to the accused.
PROSECUTION'S CASE
The gag order remains on the alleged victim, who is expected to testify on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the prosecution, the accused was the boyfriend of the victim's mother, who was divorced.
The accused is alleged to have preyed on the girl at the rental flat they shared, and in a rented van that was parked at either the Christian or Muslim cemetery in Lim Chu Kang.
The couple would use the van for work in the cemeteries, and the victim and her younger brother would follow them after school.
When they stayed overnight at the cemetery, the family would sleep in the van. The mother and accused would sleep in the front while the children would take a makeshift sofa behind.
The accused would often prey on the girl while everyone was asleep, said the prosecution.
According to the victim, in February 2021, she woke up in the wee hours of the morning in her home to the accused molesting her. She asked him to stop, to no avail.
He allegedly repeated the acts and sexually assaulted her a few days later again in her home.
In May 2021, he supposedly sexually assaulted the girl while in the van, while he was in the reclined driver's seat, according to the victim.
The victim spoke to her brother, whom she believed saw the incident. She decided then that she would tell her mother about the abuse after her birthday.
On another occasion in 2021, the accused asked the victim to accompany him to the Christian cemetery to get water. He allegedly made the victim perform a sexual act on him, according to the prosecution.
After this, as the two were on the way back to the Muslim cemetery, the victim asked if she could play with her phone, and the accused then asked the victim for the same sexual act and she complied, the prosecution said.
The victim mustered the courage to confide in her mother after her 11th birthday, but she was "not believed", the prosecution said.
The accused denied the offences and continued to have access to her, resulting in more offences against the girl in January 2022, the prosecution said.
He is said to have sexually assaulted the girl on Jan 3, 2022 while they were both in the van parked near a shelter at the Muslim cemetery.
In February 2022, the victim had a stayover with a half-sister from her biological father's previous marriage.
Her mother then asked her to return home early, but the reluctant girl started crying. She confided in her half-sister.
A police report was lodged on Feb 3, 2022 and the accused was arrested the next day.
PSYCHIATRIST TESTIFIES
The prosecution said it would lead evidence from 25 witnesses.
The first witness to testify on Tuesday was psychiatrist Bernadine Woo Siew Choo, a senior consultant from the Child Guidance Clinic at the Institute of Mental Health. She evaluated the alleged victim on Aug 26, 2022 to see if she was fit to testify in court.
In her report, the psychiatrist stated that she found the victim consistent and coherent during their interview.
The victim told Dr Woo that she was "fearful" and "angry" and had recurrent thoughts about the alleged abuse.
She has also developed a fear of men and has difficulty trusting people, which led the psychiatrist to think that the girl would have problems with interpersonal relationships later in life.
The psychiatrist concluded that the girl was fit to testify in court as she was able to recount events coherently, could speak fluently, and did not contradict herself.
The trial continues on Tuesday with the alleged victim expected to testify in camera. The accused is represented by lawyer Teo Choo Kee.
Continue reading...