Dad exposed himself to young daughter to 'educate' her, threatened to kill her with knife
Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
May 7, 2025
A man claimed that his daughter had expressed her curiosity about why boys and girls do not assume the same position when using a toilet, and went on to expose himself to her in a Housing Board flat in 2016.
He asked the girl, who was then between five and six years old, if she wanted to touch his private parts. He allowed her to do so after she nodded her head.
According to the Malaysian man, he allowed the girl to touch him for "educational reasons".
In 2023, he threatened to kill the girl, then 12, following an argument. The Singapore permanent resident also assaulted her in 2024.
The 40-year-old, who cannot be named due to a gag to protect his daughter's identity, was sentenced to a year and four months' jail on May 7.
District Judge Carol Ling earlier convicted him in April of one count of procuring the commission of an indecent act with a child. On May 7, he pleaded guilty to a criminal intimidation charge.
One count of assault was considered during his sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng stated in his submissions that the fact of the man exposing himself to his daughter and allowing her to touch his genitals was not disputed.
However, the offender contested the circumstances behind the incident.
The DPP said: "We note that both the accused and his wife agree that, ordinarily, the act of showing someone his (private parts), asking them if they wanted to touch... and letting them touch... would be an indecent act.
"But the accused's position appears to be that it was somehow permissible for him to show (his genitals) to his daughter and allow her to touch... for educational reasons. This is plainly absurd and unacceptable."
The prosecutor told Judge Ling that parents do not generally show their children their private parts - much less ask the youngsters to touch them.
He noted that, likewise, sex education in places such as schools does not generally entail an "interactive" segment, where genitals of the opposite sex are shown to children.
The man and his wife had claimed that she was the one who told him to show their daughter his private parts.
However, court documents stated that when the offender told his wife about the incident, she told him not to do it again.
DPP Ng told the court: "There would be no reason for his wife to ask him not to do it again, if what he had done was not something indecent to begin with."
The prosecutor said the father was at home with his wife and the victim on Oct 6, 2023, when he had an argument with his daughter over an undisclosed reason.
During the tiff in their living room, he stood up in a fit of rage and flung a pillow at the girl, who managed to dodge it.
He said he would "strangle the victim to death", while making a gesture akin to choking someone.
Although his wife tried to calm him down, he inched closer to the victim before storming off, saying: "You don't believe I will use a knife to chop you to death? I will take it out now."
He returned to the living room with a knife and asked his daughter to stretch out her hand.
The DPP said: "The victim did so, and the accused placed the sharp end of the knife's blade on the victim's right forearm, as though he was about to cut her on the hand. This entire incident was captured on CCTV."
The girl did not suffer any injuries, and her father eventually placed the knife back in the kitchen.
Court documents did not disclose what happened next, but the man was later charged in court in 2024.
