SINGAPORE (CNA) – A 60-year-old man went on trial in the High Court yesterday for sexually assaulting his daughter’s friend, who was nine years old when the offences allegedly started.
The assaults allegedly happened when the man visited his daughter, who lived with the victim’s family from early 2015. His daughter moved out by early 2016.
The incidents were only discovered about three years later, when the topic of sexual abuse was being taught in class and the victim was seen crying.
The accused faces two charges of aggravated sexual assault and five charges of aggravated outrage of modesty.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Jane Lim and Lim Ying Min will lead evidence from 14 witnesses for their case. The accused is represented by defence lawyers Joel Wang and Haneef Abdul Malik.
The court heard that the victim stayed with her father and grandmother in a three-room flat at the time.
The accused’s girlfriend at the time was a friend of the victim’s grandmother. Sometime in 2015, the girlfriend asked the victim’s grandmother to help take care of the accused’s daughter.
The grandmother agreed, and the accused’s daughter moved in with the victim’s family sometime in early 2015.
The accused visited his daughter at the victim’s house on a weekly basis. According to the prosecution’s case, the man is accused of committing a series of sexual assaults against the victim while his daughter lived in the flat.
Most of these alleged assaults happened when he and the victim were alone in the living room.
The trial continues today.
For each count of aggravated sexual assault, the accused could be jailed between eight and 20 years and caned not less than 12 strokes.
