Man who raped stepdaughter gets 25 years' jail, 24 strokes of the cane

A 30-year-old man who raped and sexually assaulted his teenage stepdaughter over seven months has been sentenced to 25 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane.

- Selina Lum

He is appealing against his conviction and sentence, which the High Court delivered on March 28.

The man had claimed trial to his charges, and denied committing any sexual acts on the girl, who was 13 to 14 years old at the time of the offences in 2021.

He claimed that the girl had lied about being sexually assaulted by him because she was upset with him for confiscating her mobile phone and the TV remote and preventing her from watching K-pop shows.

After the man's arrest in September 2021, he admitted to various sexual acts with the girl in his video-recorded statements to the police.

But in court, he claimed that these statements had not been given voluntarily, and thus cannot be used as evidence against him.

In sentencing him on March 28, Justice Mavis Chionh said she considered the man's brazen abuse of trust and his lack of remorse in making false allegations against the police.

The man asserted that he had given a false confession because he believed that the girl was being held in custody by the police.

He said a police officer had told him to think about when his child would be able to go home if he kept "giving excuses or evading".