A 47-Year-Old Sexually Abused An Underage Girl For Over A Year And People Are Blaming Her
However, many have called out others for their victim-blaming comments.
By Sadho Ram — 10 Mar 2018, 02:40 AM
In a case that is currently being heard in the Singapore High Court, a 47-year-old man, said to be a company director, has admitted to sexually abusing an underage girl from December 2012 to July 2014
According to The Straits Times, the man pleaded guilty to two charges of statutory rape and one charge of sexual penetration of a minor in the High Court on Tuesday, 6 March.
The underage victim is said to be the former "girlfriend" of the man's 12-year-old son. She was abused by the man over a period of one and half years prior to she turned 13.
It was reported that the 47-year-old had come upon nude photos of the girl when he was accessing his son's Facebook account back in December 2012.
The girl had reportedly sent her nude photos to the boy via private message after he had asked for them. They knew each other through competitive swimming.
After finding the photos, the man had persuaded the girl to meet with him, under the pretext that he wanted to talk about her break-up with his son. The company director, however, drove the little girl to the Copthorne King's Hotel and raped her.
From that point on, the man, who is married, started manipulating the girl who was not even 12 at the time. She became a victim of sexual grooming in his hands as he would tell her he loved her and would shower her with gifts of expensive swimming costumes.
The little girl, unbeknownst to what the man was doing with her was not a form of love or care, kept meeting the man wherever he asked her to come.
The man would take advantage of the girl's innocence and persuade her into sleeping with him in carparks, hotels, and even the rooftop of her condominium.
The Straits Times reported that the girl eventually started thinking of the man "as her boyfriend but did not tell her family as she was afraid they would be angry at her for getting involved with a married man."
The man would often make her perform oral sex on him, take nude photos of himself with her and would also ask her to send him photos of her based on his directions.
And in February 2014, when the girl, now aged 13, finally wanted to end the "affair" with him, the 47-year-old further manipulated her
Obsessed with the girl and afraid of losing his control over her, he would anonymously send her messages, threatening to post her nude photos on social media.
Scared and unaware that he was the one responsible for the threatening messages, the girl would to him for help, reported the Straits Times.
During the hearing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen said:
"The accused hoped that by his actions, he could control the victim and her activities and get the victim to continue to meet up with him for sexual activities."
The girl continued to meet the man between February and June 2014 for sexual activities because she thought he was the only one who could help her deal with the unknown "persons" who were threatening to publish her naked photos.
And in May 2014, he even told her that he might have made her pregnant. He did this so that she would continue to go to him for help.
However, it's the girl, who now suffers from flashbacks and has suicidal thoughts, who is being blamed by people on social media after details of the case were reported by local media this week
As highlighted by a Facebook page called The Malaysian Feminist, people on social media are somehow cannot accept that the girl sent nude photos to her boyfriend.
"At the end of the day, there is this GROWN MAN who manipulated her into meeting up and raped her. Then controlled her, threatened her and further manipulated her when she wanted to end it. And there are sick people in this society putting the blame on the girl who was not even 12," The Malaysian Feminist wrote on its Facebook page on 7 March, while sharing the link to the news site where the comments were posted.
Amidst the victim-blaming comments, there were those who tried to point out the obvious to others: that it's the man who is the monster
One female commentator even shared what grooming is
In her comment directed towards those blaming the victim, the commentator wrote, "do you understand the term paedophile???
"The consequences faced by these childhood abuse victims are lifelong, mostly related to mental illness, from anxiety, depression, traumatic disorders, difficulties in forming healthy relationships and many more.
"And you chose to focus on blaming the victims instead of the perpetrator?"