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SINGAPORE: A 59-year-old man was sentenced to a year and a half in jail on Thursday (December 3) for repeatedly abusing a 12-year-old girl who used to be his neighbor.
The man, who cannot be identified due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim, told police that he had committed the acts because he “had no wife” and “suddenly felt the need” to touch the girl .
The court heard that the man, a cleaner in a shopping center, used to live near the victim and his mother.
Around lunchtime on September 27 of last year, he saw the victim walking home from his elementary school. He ran to her and insisted on sending her home. The girl did not walk away when 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 free herself but couldn’t.
When they reached the elevator lobby of the victim’s block, the man kissed the victim before leading her to a bench and then to a stair landing.
He sat next to her on the stairs and abused her before grabbing her wrist and trying to pull her into her private parts. The girl resisted and the man finally released her.
He abused her again and the victim protected herself by placing her arms together in front of her. However, the man pushed the girl towards the steps and kissed her, trying to stick his tongue in her mouth, the prosecutor said.
The victims closed their lips tightly and fought him, but to no avail. The attack stopped only when the man received a phone call from his employer asking him to return to work.
After hanging up, he turned and kissed her again before leaving. Later, the girl told her mother that she was followed by her old neighbor and sexually abused; his mother later called the police.
“My daughter is very reluctant to go to the police station to report. So can you send an officer?” the victim’s mother asked.
After being arrested, the police asked the offender why he had committed the crimes.
He replied: “I have already divorced and I do not have a wife. So when I was with (the victim), I suddenly had the need to touch her and that’s how I performed the acts.”
He pleaded guilty to three counts of sexually abusing a minor, and four other counts were considered.
A PERSISTENT PREDATOR: FISCAL
The prosecutor asked for at least 19 months in jail, including one month in lieu of flogging, and said the man’s conduct “was that of a persistent predator.”
He added that the man was aware of the “immorality and criminality of his actions, but continued to carry out his sordid acts in his search for sexual gratification.”
“The actions of the defendants were not fleeting,” said Assistant District Attorney Colin Ng.
“The defendant first pushed the victim down, then kissed her on the lips and after a while tried to insert his tongue into her mouth. This line of action shows perverted persistence on the part of the defendant.”
He said it was “totally fortuitous” that the man’s employer called and stopped him from further harassing the victim.
For each count of sexual abuse of a minor, the man could have been jailed for up to five years and fined. He cannot be spanked because he is over 50 years old.
