71-year-old pleads guilty to sexually abusing 11 girls over two decades

A 71-year-old Singaporean man pleaded guilty on Thursday, 24 July 2026, to 10 charges arising from the sexual abuse of 11 girls over a period exceeding two decades.

The victims, aged five to 10 at the time of the offences, included his daughter, two granddaughters, four nieces, and four students from an enrichment centre he operated.

The man cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the identities of the victims. The charges he pleaded guilty to include rape, sexual assault by penetration, committing obscene acts involving a child, showing pornography to a minor, and outrage of modesty. A further 23 charges will be taken into account during sentencing.

The offences date back to 1994 and continued intermittently until 2023, according to court documents. The man and his wife ran tuition classes from their home before opening a formal enrichment centre in 1997, which operated until 2021.

Prosecution's case

The prosecution has sought a sentence of between 32 and 36 years' imprisonment. Under Singapore law, the man cannot be caned as he is above the statutory age limit of 50.

Prosecutors told the court that a psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) found the man has paedophilic disorder with a sexual attraction to pre-pubescent girls, and assessed him as a danger to children.

The prosecution also cited a psychiatric report concerning one of his granddaughters, stating she had reported nightmares and had asked a doctor whether the memories of what happened could be removed from her mind.

Prosecutors further argued that the man had abused his position as a tutor to target children who attended his enrichment centre, and that his conduct after his release from an earlier prison term demonstrated recalcitrance.

Prior convictions and health arguments

The court heard that the man had previously been imprisoned twice for sex offences, including a sentence of jail and caning in 2020 for separate offences. Despite this, he continued to offend against his granddaughters in 2022 and 2023, shortly after his release.

The man has myelofibrosis, a rare form of blood cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 2021. The prosecution acknowledged the diagnosis but argued that his ill health should not be treated as a mitigating factor, noting that he remains in stable condition with no immediate threat to his life. Prosecutors submitted that his conduct "must be met with the harshest penal consequences."

How the abuse came to light

The offences against the man's granddaughters came to light on 4 August 2023, when the younger of the two, then aged five, told her mother that the man had touched her. Her mother subsequently questioned the other children in the family, prompting the elder granddaughter, then seven, to disclose similar abuse. A police report was lodged shortly afterwards.

The abuse of the man's daughter began in 1997, when she was around six or seven years old, and escalated over the following years. The abuse of his nieces took place between 1994 and 1996, while two students at his enrichment centre were assaulted in 2006 and 2010, aged six and 10 respectively.

One niece was later assessed at the IMH and found to likely have post-traumatic stress disorder with delayed expression; her symptoms have since resolved, and she no longer suffers from mental illness, the court heard.

The case has been adjourned to 7 September 2026 for sentencing.