SINGAPORE: A 59-year-old man was jailed for a year and a half on Thursday (December 3) for repeatedly abusing a 12-year-old girl who used to be his neighbor.
The man, who cannot be named because he protected the victim’s identity, told police he committed the acts because he “had no wife” and “suddenly felt the urge” to touch the girl.
The court heard that the man, a cleaning lady in a shopping center, used to live close to the victim and her mother.
On September 27 last year he saw the victim walking home from her elementary school around lunchtime. He ran to her and insisted on sending her home. The girl did not leave because she recognized the man as her old neighbor.
The man put his arm around the victim’s waist as they walked, and she tried to get free, but couldn’t.
When they arrived at the elevator lobby of the victim block, the man kissed the victim before taking her to a bench and later to a landing on a staircase.
He sat next to her on the stairs, harassing her before grabbing her wrist and trying to pull it towards his genitals. The girl resisted and the man finally let go.
He attacked her again and the victim protected herself by throwing her arms in front of her. However, the man pushed the girl back up the stairs and kissed her in an attempt to put his tongue in her mouth, the prosecutor said.
The victims closed her lips tight and fought him, but to no avail. The attack only stopped when the man received a call from his employer requesting that he return to work.
After he hung up, he turned and kissed her again before leaving. The girl later told her mother that she was being followed by her old neighbor and harassed; her mother then called the police.
‘My daughter is very reluctant to go to the police station to report it. So can you send a female agent? ‘ the victim’s mother asked.
After he was arrested, the police asked the perpetrator why he had committed the crimes.
He replied, “I am already divorced and I have no wife. So when I was with (the victim), I suddenly have the urge to touch her and do the actions.”
He pleaded guilty to three charges of assault of a minor, with a further four charges being considered.
A PERMANENT PREDATOR: PROSECUTOR
The prosecutor asked for at least 19 months in jail, including one month instead of caning, saying the man’s behavior was “that of a persistent predator.”
He added that the man was aware of the “immorality and criminality of his actions, yet continued to perform his filthy deeds in his pursuit of sexual gratification.”
“The defendant’s actions were not fleeting,” said Deputy District Attorney Colin Ng.
The accused had first pushed the victim down, then kissed her lips, and after a short while tried to use his tongue to penetrate her mouth. This course of action shows perverse persistence on the part of the accused. “
He said it was “a complete coincidence” that the man’s employer called and prevented him from further molesting the victim.
For any charge of molesting a minor, the man could have been sentenced to five years in prison and a fine. He cannot be beaten because he is over 50.
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