SINGAPORE - A man has been sentenced to 19 months' jail for molesting his own daughter twice.

He pleaded guilty on Tuesday (July 7) to two charges of outraging the girl's modesty.

One other similar charge was taken into consideration during sentencing by District Judge Brenda Tan.

The man and his daughter cannot be identified because of a gag order to protect her identity.

The court heard that on the night of May 18 last year, the girl was sleeping on the sofa in the living room of her home when her father asked her to join him in the bedroom.

Half-asleep, she complied and slept on his bed.

She subsequently woke up to find herself sleeping on the floor, with the man kneeling beside her and using both his hands to massage her buttocks.

The teen shouted at him and left the room.

Two months later, the man molested his daughter again while she was sleeping on the sofa.

He used his hand to massage her leg from the calf to her thigh, and also brushed over her private parts.

She then woke up, realised that her father was molesting her and shouted at him. He subsequently went to his room to sleep.

The man was eventually arrested after the girl made a police report on Oct 8.

Court documents stated that the man admitted to first touching his daughter's thighs about two years ago.

Urging the court to impose a jail term of at least 19 months, Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Chew noted in her written submissions that the man had targeted his own biological daughter.

"This was a blatant abuse of trust, particularly in the parent-child context," she said.

On Tuesday, the district judge backdated the man's sentence to April 3 this year, when he was first remanded.

Offenders can be jailed for up to two years, fined and caned for each charge of outrage of modesty. Male offenders above 50 years old cannot be caned.