SINGAPORE: A 64-year-old man committed sexual offences against his grandson on two separate occasions when they were home alone and the boy was aged seven and eight.
On Friday (Jun 22), the man was sentenced to 12 years in jail in the High Court. He cannot be caned as he is above the age of 50. Both parties cannot be named due to a gag order.
AdvertisementIn March 2015, three months after his daughter, her husband and the victim had moved in with him and his wife, the man made his first move on his grandson.
The boy was watching television after school when the man asked him to follow him into the room. When they were on the bed, he kissed his grandson and undressed him, then himself.
He then molested the boy. He however stopped and dressed himself hurriedly when he heard the family’s maid enter the home. He told the boy to wear his shorts and warned him not to tell anyone what happened, as “as it would create problems with his parents”, according to court documents.
SEXUAL ASSAULT A YEAR LATER
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe man was in a Drug Rehabilitation Centre from Dec 1, 2015 to Sep 18, 2016. Just 10 days after his release, he sexually assaulted his grandson again. The man again asked the boy, who had turned eight, to follow him into the room. When they lay on the bed together, he again undressed the boy and himself. This time, he sexually assaulted him with his finger.
He stopped when the boy felt pain and cried out. After telling the boy not to tell anyone about what had happened, he washed his finger in an adjoining toilet.
After leaving the bedroom briefly, the accused went back to the said toilet and masturbated, the court heard.
The sexual offences came to light a month later. The boy’s mother noticed that he was playing with his mobile phone at night, even after she told him to rest early, as he had to wake up early the next day to go to the temple with his family. She told him that if he was too tired to wake up in time, he would have to stay alone at home with his grandfather. The boy then told her that he did not want to be alone with his grandfather as he had molested him.
The boy’s mother confronted her father, who admitted to his offences and asked for forgiveness. The boy then started crying. His mother made a police report the next day.
MORAL CORRUPTION, SEVERE ABUSE OF TRUST AGGRAVATING FACTORS: JUDGE
Calling for eight years' jail, the defence said the act itself was "brief" and "limited" and that the man had used only the tip of his finger.
Judicial Commissioner Pang Khang Chau said he accepted that the accused's plea of guilt and his remorse were mitigating factors.
However, he said the fact raised by the defence that the accused was not a homosexual nor a paedophile, according to an Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist, was not a relevant factor for sentencing.
He said that aggravating factors included abuse of trust and moral corruption. Three other charges, including showing the boy pornography, were taken into consideration.
For using criminal force to molest his grandson, a minor, the accused could have been jailed up to five years, caned, fined, or given a combination of punishments. For sexually assaulting a minor, he could have have faced between eight and 20 years in jail, and given at least 20 strokes of the cane.
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