SINGAPORE - A man, who molested his 12-year-old daughter in 2015 before outraging the child's modesty three more times the following year, was sentenced on Wednesday (Sept 25) to three years and eight months' jail.

The 40-year-old man was also ordered to receive nine strokes of the cane.

He was convicted of four counts of molestation last week. He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the girl's identity.

During the trial, the court heard that the man first molested the girl in their flat in the eastern part of Singapore on Sept 13, 2015.

The girl later told her mother about what he had done and the woman confronted her husband the following day.

He cried and begged for forgiveness but then went on to accost his daughter thrice in 2016 after she turned 13.

The court heard that the girl's grandmother learnt about what he had done on the third occasion on Oct 12 and alerted the police at around 12.30pm the same day.

Officers arrested the man at the flat and took him to Bedok Police Division.

Swabs were taken from the girl and the father's DNA profile was found on her lower back.

The swabs also tested positive for prostate-specific antigen, a protein found in body fluids such as semen and blood.

Prosecutors stated that the girl, her brother and their mother had given police statements that incriminated the man, but during the trial "distanced themselves" from the incriminating contents.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Yvonne Poon and Tan Zhongshan said in their submissions: "(The girl) had a strong motive to lie to protect the accused when testifying in court. (She) testified that she loved the accused and did not want anything bad to happen to him."

The prosecutors added that the man's wife also had a strong motive to lie to protect him, noting that she had testified in court that she loved him and that she would "always forgive everyone".

Last week, when she convicted the man, District Judge Jasvender Kaur said that she believed the trio's police statements.

The father, who was unrepresented, told the judge on Wednesday that he is "concerned" for his family and pleaded for leniency.

He is now out on bail of $20,000 and will surrender himself at the State Courts on Nov 1 to begin serving his sentence.

For each count of molestation, he could have been jailed for up to five years and fined or caned