CNA – A district judge in Singapore on Thursday threw out the case of a man accused of molesting his 12-year-old daughter while she wore a virtual reality (VR) headset. The 35-year-old man went on trial last January for one charge of outraging the modesty of his daughter in his bedroom sometime between July and November 2018.
On Thursday, he was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the single charge.
He faces four other charges of outraging the girl’s modesty, which were stood down during the trial. The identities of father and daughter are protected by a gag order.
The man had previously testified that he often disciplined his daughter, and that he believed these disciplinary measures, including threats to remove privileges, motivated her allegations against him.
District Judge Brenda Tan said that the girl’s evidence was inconsistent in numerous aspects, and that she was not a compelling or unusually convincing witness.
The judge said she was satisfied that the credibility of the girl, who is now 16, has been “impeached”.
“While I accept that she appears to have no apparent motive to lie about the incidents, the prosecution has not discharged the evidential threshold of proving the charge against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt,” she found.
