Exposed to porn at a young age, a boy began sexually assaulting his younger sisters when they were 10 and 11 years old.
The man, now 25, was sentenced to 15-and-a-half years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane by Singapore's High Court on Monday, after he pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual penetration of a minor under 16, and aggravated statutory rape. Another 11 charges - mostly of sexual offences against his sisters - were taken into consideration.
The elder victim is now 24, and the younger victim 19.
None of those involved in this case can be named due to a gag order.
A bulk of the offences occurred between 2010 and 2014, when the three siblings lived with their divorced mother in a two-room housing board flat.
Then between 12 and 16 years old, the brother, who was exposed to porn when he was 10, would often target his sisters when they slept on mattresses placed in the living room and when his mother was asleep.
On one occasion in 2010, the brother and the elder victim, who was 11, were watching a children's programme on television in the living room when he sexually assaulted her.
Citing another occasion in 2013 where the accused sexually assaulted the elder victim at night, the prosecution said the victim "allowed" her brother's sexual advances as she had "become sexualised due to the accused's repeated sexual activity with her over the years".
He continued his offending even when he began occupying the flat's sole bedroom, asking his sisters to follow him there.
In 2014, when the elder victim was 15, she refused her brother's request to go to his bedroom, as she did not want to have sex with him.
At his persistence, she relented as she hoped that the accused would stop asking her for sex if she gave in.
In 2014, the accused raped the younger victim, then 10 years old, as the three siblings were watching a television show.
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The elder victim, who was seated in front of them, was not aware of the act.
In 2017, the man enrolled in a full-time academic programme and spent most of his time on campus, reducing his interaction with his sisters.
However, in June 2020, he molested the elder victim and asked her to have sex with him. She refused and pushed his hand away.
The elder victim sought counselling that year and was asked to lodge a police report after she revealed the offences to her counsellor.
"The victim told her [counsellor] that she did not wish to do so as the incidents happened a long time ago and that she was concerned about her mother and sister finding out about what the accused had done to her as she was not ready to speak to them about it," Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan told the court.
Later that year, however, the victim had an emotional breakdown in school, and she was again asked to lodge a police report.
She did so on Nov 23, 2020, and the accused was arrested that afternoon. His mobile phone was seized and found to contain four obscene films that were recordings.
Pedestrians walk across Cavenagh bridge near Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on Monday. (Photo: AFP)
The man was examined at the Institute of Mental Health and found to have had no mental illness at the time of the offences. He was also not intellectually disabled and did not have paedophilic disorder.
The man's lawyers, Nakoorsha Abdul Kadir, Rasveen Kaur and Michelle Tang, said their client's actions had to be considered against his background, including how his parents divorced when he was still young.
"As such, [our client] did not have the benefit of a strong family support and lacked the presence of a father figure in his life."
His mother had also engaged in behaviour that perpetuated his warped understanding of sexual intimacy and sexual relations, said Kaur.
"For instance, [our client's] mother would often bring home different sexual partners that she met, [he] was well aware that she was sexually active with these partners.
"[He] also believed that his mother was having sexual relations with his 'uncle'. He had come to this conclusion as his mother had told the children to address her boyfriend at that time as 'uncle'."
As such, the accused believed that his mother's boyfriend had been a relative, said Kaur.
Through these experiences, the man developed a distorted understanding of sexual intimacy from young, said the lawyer.
The defence lawyers sought a jail term of between 13 and 15 years, along with 12 strokes of the cane.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Christina Koh sought 15 to 17 years' jail and 14 strokes of the cane.
Koh cited the tender ages of the victims and the man's abuse of trust in a familial context as aggravating factors.
"Instead of protecting her from harm, he had access to [the younger victim], violating her safe refuge at home," she said.
Delivering her sentence, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said she was "mindful" that the man had been young when he offended.
Given that he was a first-time offender, she felt that the minimum statutory requirement of 12 strokes of the cane was adequate.