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SINGAPORE: A 20-year-old man received at least one year of reform training on Thursday (October 29) for repeatedly abusing and sexually abusing his younger cousin since she was eight years old.
The man was 13 years old when he took advantage of his cousin for the first time, justifying to himself that she would not understand what was happening.
He escalated his actions from annoyances to sexual abuse for three years and was captured after the girl confided in her friends about her pregnancy fears.
Reformer training is a more severe punishment than probation, as it generates a criminal record and detains offenders in a structured setting.
Not all parties can be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim, who is now 15 years old.
The offender had pleaded guilty in August to one count of insulting his cousin’s modesty and two counts of sexual penetration of a minor. Another 14 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that the victim considered the defendant as his older brother, who had played with him since they were little.
The girl frequently visited the defendant’s apartment as her aunt and grandmother used to take care of her and she also stayed for a time in the defendant’s apartment due to the housing situation of her parents.
The man began abusing her in 2014 after seeing her emerge naked from a shower.
He sexually abused the girl when the adults were away, initially feeling disgusted with himself, but later justifying himself that the consequences “weren’t that bad” as he thought she wouldn’t understand what was going on.
The girl was nine years old when her cousin sodomized her for the first time in December 2014. She repeated the acts multiple times over the next several years, despite the girl telling her it hurt. The assailant also taught him to perform sexual acts.
The victim did not understand what was happening, covering her face and body with her blanket every time he mistreated her.
In August 2017, the victim experienced a stomach ache. She was in Primary 6 at the time and was concerned that she thought she might get pregnant from anal penetration.
She told her close friends about this fear and later revealed that her cousin had sexually abused her. Her teacher was alerted and took her to a police station.
The girl later said she felt “scared, uncomfortable and confused” during sexual activities, but kept quiet because she did not want to separate the family.
She also felt “sad” at the thought of her cousin’s punishment and worried about how her relatives would take the news.
The offender was found eligible for reform training after the prosecution objected to the request for a parole eligibility report, saying he had committed very serious sex crimes.
“The variety of crimes speaks to both depravity and the scale of sexual crimes,” the prosecutor said, adding that the offender faced 17 total charges committed over three years.
The victim and his mother moved out of the defendant’s apartment immediately after the crimes were reported and the defendant apologized to the victim’s mother and father.
The defendant now interacts with the victim only through greetings at family gatherings and when there is close parental supervision.
