2 years and 8 months' jail for man who molested 3 stepdaughters

Three sisters thought they had found a father figure when their mother got married in late 2013.

But about a year later, he started molesting the sisters, who were then between 11 and 15 years old.

Two of the girls confided in each other in 2017, and their mother later learnt about their ordeal. But they did not make a police report.

The man's offences were eventually exposed in 2019 after the police were alerted to a heated argument between the couple.

Following a trial, District Judge Eddy Tham found the 53-year-old man guilty of three counts of molestation and sentenced him yesterday to two years and eight months' jail. As the man is above 50 years old, he cannot be caned and was ordered to spend an additional 18 weeks behind bars in lieu of caning. He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victims' identities.

During the trial, the youngest victim testified that she was resting on a bed in her room some time between 2014 and 2015 when her stepfather molested her.

She told the district judge that she kept her distance from the man thereafter and initially did not tell others about her ordeal. Her two older sisters also testified that the man had molested them.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said the mother found out about the offences in 2017 when she "chanced upon a conversation" between the two younger girls about what the man had done to them.

The woman broached the issue with her three daughters a few weeks later and the girls told her what happened.

The court heard that the girls then decided to give their stepfather a chance and the woman said that she felt "stuck".

The DPP said they decided "to keep the matter within the family in a bid to keep the family unit intact".

After this disclosure, the man did not molest the girls again but the mother would bring up the matter when they quarrelled.

On Feb 11, 2019, the couple were quarrelling at home when someone - possibly a neighbour - alerted the police and officers turned up at their doorstep. Only then did the mother inform the authorities about her daughters' ordeal.

The man, who is represented by lawyer Luo Ling Ling, denied molesting the girls. He intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence, and was offered bail of $20,000 yesterday.