A 33-year-old man pleaded guilty in the High Court on April 14, 2025, to sexually abusing his stepdaughter over more than three years when she was between nine and 12 years old.
He admitted to one count of rape, one count of outrage of modesty, and one count of cheating in an unrelated offense. Six other charges will be considered during sentencing.
The court heard both the man and the victim’s mother tried to pressure the girl to withdraw her allegations after she reported the abuse to police. The mother blamed her daughter and believed she had lied to gain freedom.
The abuse began between December 2017 and April 2018, shortly after the man married the victim’s mother. The victim treated him as her father as he was the only male figure in her life.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tin Shu Min told the court the first assault happened when the man molested the nine-year-old while her mother was at work. Her younger sisters were sleeping nearby.
The abuse continued once or twice monthly and worsened in early 2021, when he began forcing her to perform oral sex and raped her.
The victim recorded her feelings about the assaults in her phone’s Notes app, writing: “You will be in jail already if I had told anyone about this.” The man found this note while checking her phone without permission and threatened to kill her and her mother if she told anyone.
By March or April 2021, the victim confided in a friend but refused to report the abuse out of fear. The last assault occurred on July 14, 2021.
Two days later, the victim and her friend made a plan to report the abuse. On July 17, during her friend’s birthday celebration, the victim told her friend’s mother about the sexual abuse. The woman called police, and the man was arrested that night.
The man denied the allegations when questioned by police. A forensic test later found his semen on the victim’s blanket.
Despite bail conditions prohibiting contact with the victim, the man and the mother tried to obstruct justice twice. They pressured the girl to claim she had made a false statement because she was “mad” at her stepfather.
A psychiatric report states the victim was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and experiences recurring flashbacks. A psychological report found she felt disappointed that her mother didn’t trust her.
The man faces up to 20 years in jail for rape and is also liable to a fine or caning. All parties cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victim, who is now 16.
