Public Prosecutor v BRH

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tan Siong Thye J
• Judgment Date: 13 January 2020
• Neutral Citation: [2020] SGHC 14
• Citation: [2020] SGHC 14
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Published date: 24 January 2020
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No. 26 of 2019
• Plaintiff Counsel: Chee Ee Ling and Ng Yiwen (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Lim Ghim Siew Henry (G S Lim & Partners)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law,Offences,Rape,Sexual penetration,Criminal procedure and sentencing,Sentencing,Benchmark sentences
• Hearing Date: 13 January 2020

Tan Siong Thye J (delivering the oral judgment of the court): Introduction

This is a highly appalling case involving the sexual abuse of a very young and vulnerable victim by her step-father. The accused, BRH, repeatedly committed sexual offences against his very young step-daughter (“the Victim”). These offences occurred from the time the Victim was only six years of age, and continued until she was 12. At the relevant time of the offences, the accused was between 34 and 39 years of age. For his actions, the accused faces the following 15 charges in chronological sequence: sometime in 2012 he outraged the modesty of the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence punishable under s 354(2) of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008, Rev Ed) (“Penal Code”), namely, by rubbing the Victim’s vagina over her clothes without her consent when she was between six and seven years of age (“the 1st charge”); sometime between January and June 2013 he sexually assaulted by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, he penetrated his penis into the anus of the Victim without her consent when she was then 7 years of age (“the 2nd charge”); sometime in 2014 he sexually assaulted by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, he penetrated his penis into the mouth of the Victim without her consent when she was between eight and nine years of age (“the 3rd charge”); sometime in 2014 he attempted to sexually assault the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) read with s 511 of the Penal Code, namely, by attempting to penetrate, with his penis, the anus of the Victim without her consent when she was between eight and nine years of age (“the 4th charge”); sometime in 2014 he raped the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 375(1)(b) and punishable under s 375(3)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the vagina of the Victim without her consent when she was between eight and nine years of age (“the 5th charge”); sometime in January 2015 he sexually assaulted by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the anus of the Victim without her consent when she was then 9 years of age (“the 6th charge”); sometime in 2015 he raped the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 375(1)(b) and punishable under s 375(3)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the vagina of the Victim without her consent when she was between nine and ten years of age (“the 7th charge”); sometime in 2015 he sexually assaulted the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the mouth of the Victim without her consent when she was between nine and ten years of age (“the 8th charge”); sometime in 2016 he outraged the modesty of the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence punishable under s 354(2) of the Penal Code, namely, by touching the Victim’s vagina over her clothes without her consent when she was between ten and 11 years of age (“the 9th charge”); sometime in 2016 he outraged the modesty of the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence punishable under s 354(2) of the Penal Code, namely, by touching the Victim’s buttocks skin-on-skin without her consent when she was between ten and 11 years of age (“the 10th charge”); sometime in December 2016 he sexually assaulted by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the mouth of the Victim without her consent when she was then 11 years of age (“the 11th charge”); sometime in December 2016 he sexually assaulted by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the anus of the Victim without her consent when she was then 11 years of age (“the 12th charge”); sometime in 2017 he sexually assaulted by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the mouth of the Victim without her consent when she was between 11 and 12 years of age (“the 13th charge”); sometime in 2017 he sexually assaulted by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) of the Penal Code, namely, by penetrating, with his penis, the anus of the Victim when she was between 11 and 12 years of age (“the 14th charge”); and sometime in 2018 he attempted to sexually assault by penetration the Victim who was under 14 years of age, an offence under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(4)(b) read with s 511 of the Penal Code, namely, by attempting to penetrate, with his penis, the anus of the Victim without her consent when she was then 12 years of age (“the 15th charge”).

At the hearing before me, the Prosecution proceeded on the 5th, 11th and 12th charges. The accused pleaded guilty to all the proceeded charges and admitted to the statement of facts (“SOF”) without qualification. I accepted his unequivocal plea of guilt and, accordingly, convicted him on the 5th, 11th and 12th charges. The accused also consented to having the remaining charges (hereafter “the TIC charges”) being taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

After hearing the accused’s mitigation plea, and the Prosecution’s and Defence’s submissions on sentence, I now give reasons for the sentences which I shall pronounce shortly.

Relevant facts Background to the offences

The Victim’s biological parents were separated when she was an infant. The Victim’s mother then re-married the accused in 2008, when the Victim was about two years of age. The accused and the Victim’s mother have four children arising out of their marriage. Together with the Victim, all seven members of the family resided in a one-room Housing and Development Board flat somewhere in the central region of Singapore (“the flat”). The entire family usually slept together in the living room of the flat.

The Victim and the accused had a good relationship prior to the offences. She treated him as her real father and was closer to the accused than to her own biological father. This changed abruptly when the accused started to sexually abuse the Victim in 2012.

The Victim was only six years of age at the time of the first incident, which occurred sometime in 2012, when she had just started her Primary School education. She was sleeping on a mattress in the living room of the flat when, at about 5 a.m., the accused woke her up and rubbed her vagina over her clothes. The accused then told the Victim to keep silent about the incident. This forms the subject of the 1st charge.

The accused did not stop after the first incident and instead his sexual abuse of the Victim started escalating the following year. Sometime between January and July 2013, while the Victim was asleep, the accused turned her over and removed her pants and panties. He then removed his shorts before penetrating the Victim’s anus with his penis. This caused the Victim to cry as she felt a tearing pain at her anus, but the accused covered her mouth and slapped her. He then put his finger to his lips, telling the Victim to be quiet. This forms the subject of the 2nd charge.

The accused subsequently performed or attempted to perform these acts of penile-anal penetration on five other occasions from 2014 to 2018, one time each year. These acts form the subject of the 4th, 6th, 12th, 14th and 15th charges.

The sexual abuse of the Victim also extended to acts of fellatio, beginning sometime in 2014. On the first instance, the accused summoned the Victim to his bedroom, closed the door and began groping the Victim’s body. She protested and told the accused to stop, to which he retorted that her body was his and he could touch her anywhere he wanted. The accused then stood in front of the Victim and removed his underwear, exposing his penis to her. He then pulled her head towards his penis, instructing her to open her mouth and told her to “suck”. Despite the Victim’s unwillingness, the accused proceeded to insert his penis into her mouth, held on to her head and thrusted his penis in and out of her mouth before ejaculating in it. This forms the subject of the 3rd charge.

Following the acts forming the 3rd charge, the accused warned the Victim to keep it a secret, at the same time promising that he would cease all such acts. Despite this, the accused persisted in his abuse of the Victim, performing these acts of penile-oral penetration on three other occasions from 2015 to 2017, one time each year. These acts form the subject of the 8th, 11th and 13th charges.

The accused also raped the Victim on two occasions (forming the subject of the 5th and 7th charges) in 2014 and 2015. He also outraged her modesty by touching the Victim’s vagina over her clothes in 2016 (9th charge). In the same year he again outraged her modesty by touching her buttocks skin-on-skin (10th charge).

The accused did not use a condom when he raped the Victim and also when he used his penis to penetrate the Victim’s anus. For fellatio, the accused would ejaculate into the Victim’s mouth and on other instances, he would ejaculate onto her stomach or her back.

This state of affairs continued till 17 January 2018. On that day when the Victim was getting ready for school,...