18 years' jail for man who sexually assaulted daughter

He committed offences when wife was on night shift or overseas, tried to blame victim

- Selina Lum

A technician sexually assaulted his daughter in her bedroom when she was between 12 and 14 while his wife was overseas or working the night shift.

On Jan 16, the 52-year-old man was sentenced to 18 years' jail after he pleaded guilty in the High Court to two counts of aggravated sexual assault by penetration. The sentence included a one-year term in lieu of 24 strokes of the cane.

The man, a Singapore permanent resident, cannot be caned as he is above the age of 50.

Five other charges for various sexual offences were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh said in sentencing arguments that the man had tried to blame the victim for what he had done.

The prosecutor said that during a psychiatric assessment following his arrest, the man claimed that the girl had induced him to commit the offences by looking at him "in a sexual mode".

On hearing this, the man, who did not have a lawyer, immediately shouted in court that this was the truth.