A grandfather, 69, who is a former grassroots leader was sentenced by the court today (27 Mar) to three years and three months behind bars for molestation.
His daughter frequently watched over her neighbors daughter along with her own children. However, when she was busy, her father would take over watching over the kids.
The court heard that in 2016, while looking after the kids, the elderly man repeatedly molested the neighbor’s child who was then 11 years old, in order to satisfy his own sexual urges.
He began molesting the girl in March 2016 by touching her thigh, waist and buttocks. She got away from him but he followed her into the toilet. He then made her sit on his lap and proceeded to touch her inappropriately.
Over the next few months, he grew bolder and progressed to kissing her lips and touching her private parts while she was in the shower.
One time in the kitchen, he hugged her from behind, touched her private parts and pressed his crotch against her. Shortly after, when the girl was showering in the toilet, he took off his clothes and went in naked before forcing her to sit on his lap. She was violated.
All these while, the girl suffered in silence and did not tell her mother fearing that she would not believe her.
In 2017, for reasons not stated in court documents, both the child’s parents were sent to jail and she was then taken in by a social worker. During an interview, the child told the social worker what the elderly man had done to her. The social worker then took her to Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre to file a police report.
During investigations, the former grassroots leader admitted that he touched the girl “out of lust and as he felt the temptation to touch her, especially while soaping her in the shower”.
The man cannot be named due to a gag order imposed to protect the child’s identity.
The Deputy Public Prosecutor told the court, “Sex crimes committed against children are among the most heinous…Such offending conduct by a person in authority cannot be condoned.”
In mitigation, the man’s lawyers said the client has “no paedophilic disorder” and was “deeply sorry” for what he had done. They also argued that he had a clean record before this and was previously a grassroots leader.
It’s not known which constituency the man used to serve as grassroots leader since he cannot be named.
For each charge of molesting a minor, the former grassroots leader could have been jailed up to five years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three.
