SINGAPORE: A man who molested his “godson” for seven years was sentenced to four years and three months in jail and 13 strokes of the cane on Tuesday (Apr 15).
Due to his age, Esau John Chin, 64, will serve an additional six months of jail in lieu of caning, taking his total imprisonment term to four years and nine months. In Singapore, caning is not imposed on male offenders who are 50 years old or above.
Chin was found guilty of seven counts of molest in March following a trial.
The court heard that the victim, who was aged between 11 and 18 years during the period of sexual assaults, had looked up to Chin as a father figure after his father died.
The victim, now 34, cannot be named due to a gag order.
Delivering his sentence, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said there was exploitation of the victim’s vulnerability, “severe” intrusion on the victim by the accused and a “serious” abuse of trust.
However, he disagreed with the prosecution’s submission that the accused, a New Zealander, had taken advantage of the “vacuum” in the victim’s life to assume the role of a father.
“I would disagree with this point as it paints the accused as someone who planned this from the very start,” he said, adding that the evidence heard in court did not support this.
He said it was entirely possible that when the accused took on the role of a father figure, it had been out of “altruistic” reasons and “with their wellbeing in mind” but later abused their trust after gaining it.
WHAT HAPPENED
According to court documents, Chin, who was formerly a Singapore citizen, was a close family friend of the victim and would stay with the victim’s family at least once a year when he returned from New Zealand between 2000 and 2020.
The victim is the oldest of three children and the only boy.
The prosecution’s case is that Chin had exploited the vulnerability of a family suffering from loss.
He carried out the sexual assault on the victim for a period of seven years between 2002 and 2008 when the victim was aged between 11 and 18. Chin was aged 41 to 48 years at the time of the sexual assaults.
During the early years of Chin’s stay, the court heard that he would shower naked with the victim and touch the victim’s private parts.
From 2002 to 2008, he shared a bed with the victim at least once a year when he stayed with the family and would molest him when he was asleep.
Chin would perform a sexual act on the victim, who would pretend to sleep but try to move away.
Due to his youth, the victim was not sure if the acts were done between father and son, and he looked up to the accused as a father figure.
The sexual acts stopped only in 2009 when the victim told the accused that he had a girlfriend.
In his defence, Chin denied ever touching the victim’s genitals, although he admitted to showering naked with him.
Chin is appealing against his sentence and conviction.
