Father who showed no remorse after sexually abusing daughter pleads guilty

A teenage girl who was sexually exploited by her biological father for more than three years finally mustered up the courage to tell her mother about the abuse.

- Selina Lum

When the woman confronted the man, he callously retorted that "it takes two hands to clap", showing no remorse, prosecutors told the High Court.

The victim's mother divorced the man following the revelations.

On Sept 12, the 40-year-old man pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual penetration of a minor under 16, and two charges of exploitative sexual penetration of a minor between 16 and 18.

Nine other charges for sex offences he committed against the victim will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced at a later date.

The prosecution sought a sentence of at least 18 to 19 1/2 years' jail and 16 strokes of the cane.

Justice Dedar Singh Gill asked for further submissions on whether abuse of trust could be considered an aggravating factor for the exploitative sexual penetration charges, after defence counsel Raphael Louis argued that this amounted to double counting.

The victim's parents married in 2009, after the girl was born out of wedlock in 2003. The couple had two sons after their marriage.