Jail and cane for paedophile who raped 12-year-old sis

At age 13, he started sexually abusing his younger sister, then five, when he felt the urge to perform the acts depicted in the pornographic animations that he watched online.

At 20, he had sex with his sister, then 12, while his mother and younger brother slept in the same bedroom.

Yesterday, the man, now 22 and diagnosed a paedophile, was sentenced to 111/2 years' jail and seven strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to one charge each of molestation and statutory rape.

Seven other charges for sexual offences were taken into consideration. The parties cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the girl, who is now 14.

The High Court heard that the siblings' mother, who knew about the sexual acts, suspected that her older son was responsible when the girl became pregnant.

After an unsuccessful bid to get the baby aborted, the woman tried to hide the pregnancy by stopping her daughter from attending school. The school eventually found out about the pregnancy and reported the matter to the authorities.

It turned out that the baby was fathered by another person, who is facing separate investigations. The girl later underwent an abortion here.

The siblings were two of four children - with the accused being the second oldest and the victim the youngest - who lived in a flat with one bedroom.

In 2010, the accused started rubbing himself against his sister. Once, his mother noticed semen stains on the girl's panties. She questioned him and reminded him that he cannot "do such a thing" to his sister.

In 2011, the victim moved out of the flat with the father. The couple divorced in 2013.

In 2017, the girl moved back to live with her mother and two brothers.

From June to September that year, the accused, who was doing his full-time national service, had sex with his sister during the weekends when he returned home.

The family slept in the bedroom, with the victim and accused sharing the lower deck of a bunk bed.

Once, the mother, who was sleeping on a mattress on the floor, woke up after the accused was done with the act and asked whether he was scared of the consequences.

In November 2017, the woman took the girl to a clinic to confirm that the victim was pregnant. She ignored the doctor's advice to take the girl to hospital because she was worried her son would be arrested.

She eventually revealed to school officials that her daughter was pregnant.

Following his arrest, the accused was assessed to be exclusively sexually attracted to children.

Prosecutors argued for at least 101/2 years' jail and seven strokes of the cane. "The accused's treatment of his younger sister as a means of sexual gratification epitomises perversion and abuse of trust," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Marshall Lim.

The defence asked for 10 years' jail and seven strokes of the cane.

Mr Josephus Tan, who was assigned to defend the accused, said his client was remorseful and that he had no part to play in the subsequent cover-up.

In sentencing, Justice Chua Lee Ming told the accused: "I cannot ignore the fact that instead of protecting your younger sister, you abused her sexually over a period of time and the offences escalated."