Over
a period of four months, a 62-year-old man repeatedly molested his then
girlfriend’s young daughter when they were home alone, even groping the girl
while she was showering, a district court heard.
After
each incident, he would give the girl – who was then 11 years old – between $5
and $80, telling her not to reveal his crimes.
When
the girl told her mother about the matter, the latter did not believe her,
instead telling the victim that the man would not do such things to her.
At
the State Courts on Friday (9 November), the man, who cannot be named to
protect the identity of the girl, was jailed for three years, having pleaded
guilty to one out of three charges of using criminal force to outrage the
modesty of a minor.
He
also received an additional 12 weeks’ jail in lieu of six strokes of the cane.
Male offenders above 50 cannot be caned.
Man
was father figure to victim
The
court heard that the man got into a relationship with the girl’s mother and
moved in with them around 2010 or 2011. Over time, the girl referred to the man
as her father.
The
girl would be alone in the flat with the man on most days after she got home
from school. The man worked as a general worker on the permanent night shift,
leaving for work at 8pm and returning after 10.45am, while the mother worked as
a store helper from 9am to 10pm.
Between
June and September 2014, the man repeatedly molested the girl when they were
alone at home. He started by grabbing her hand and putting it over his groin,
to placing her hand in his pants. As time passed, he also entered the toilet
while she was showering, caressing her breasts and buttocks, and rubbing
himself up against her.
“Though
the victim was initially hesitant and struggled when the accused molested her,
as time progressed she complied and gave in to him as she knew she would
receive monetary rewards for doing so,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi
Boppana.
On
one occasion in June 2014, after drinking two cans of beer, the man entered the
toilet when the girl was showering. She wanted to step out, but he did not let
her.
He
hugged the victim from behind, and began caressing her entire body. He also
pressed himself against her. Later, he gave her $30 and told her not to tell
anyone about what had happened.
Victim’s mother disbelieved her
After
enduring the man’s lewd acts for a few months, the girl confided in a friend
about the matter. Said DPP Sruthi, “With her friend’s encouragement, the victim
attempted to disclose the incidents to her mother. However, the victim’s mother
disbelieved her, thinking that she was being playful, and told the victim that
the accused would not do such things to her.”
The
man was eventually asked to leave the home in December 2015, as he often argued
with the girl’s mother. He was also not contributing to the household finances.
In
September 2017, the victim confided in her school counsellor about what the man
had done, as she was reacting adversely towards her schoolmates. She would feel
stressed and paranoid when male schoolmates touched her.
The
girl made a police report in November last year, and the man was arrested a few
hours later. He admitted to his crimes, saying he would usually drink alcohol
after coming home from work, and get the urge to touch the victim.
Victim
has flashbacks
In
asking for a deterrent sentence, DPP Sruthi said the jail term “must be
proportionate to the accused’s heinous abuse of his position of trust and
authority, (and) the enduring nature of the sexual assaults that the accused
perpetrated on the victim”.
The
girl’s victim impact statement also stated that she has flashbacks of the
incidents at times, but she has been able to cope and is trying to move on, the
DPP said.
In
mitigation, the man said he married an Indonesian woman last year and is the
sole breadwinner with two children to support.
Asked
by District Judge Kan Shuk Weng whether he had anything to say about what he
did, the man said, “At that point of time I was intoxicated, I was drunk and I
did not remember what I did. I can say that almost everyday I drink.”
When
DPP Sruthi pointed out to the court that he was detailed in his recollection of
the offences, the man replied, “I regretted all that I’ve done your Honour, I
regretted my actions.”
In
sentencing, the judge noted that the man was a father figure to the victim, and
sought to downplay his crimes, saying that he was drunk and had no recollection
of the offences.
The
punishment for assault or use of criminal force to outrage the modesty of a
person under 14 is up to five years’ jail, a fine, caning, or any combined
punishment.
Sumber : Yahoonews
Forex Trading Scams to Watch
The
forex market involves very active trading of over $1 trillion each day, not
including futures and currency options, which put the trading at closer to $5
trillion daily. The market does not have
much in the way of regulation, although things have started to improve
recently.
The
opportunity still exists for many forex scams, which tempt new investors with a
promise of quick fortunes through "secret trading formulas" or
algorithm-based "proprietary" trading methodologies. Before choosing
a broker or platform, go through your own due diligence by visiting BASIC, or
the Background Affiliation Status Information Center, created by the
self-regulatory NFA (National Futures Association).
01
Signal Sellers
Stock
Market Illustration
One
of the challenges a rookie forex investor faces is determining which operators
to trust in the forex market and which to avoid. Signal sellers make a good
example.
Basically,
a signal seller is offering a system that purports to identify favorable times
for buying or selling a currency pair. The system may be manual, where the
trader enters the info and gets a result, or it may be automated.
Some
systems rely on technical analysis, others rely on breaking news and many
employ some combination of the two. But they all purport to provide information
that leads to favorable trading opportunities. Signal sellers usually charge a
daily, weekly or monthly fee for their services.
Some
analysts propose that many or even most signal sellers are scam artists. A
frequent criticism is that if it were really possible to use a system to beat
the market, why would the individual or firm that has this information make it
widely available? Wouldn't it make more sense to use this incredible signaling
system to make huge profits?
Other
analysts distinguish between known scammers and more reputable information
sources such as Metatrader, that offer a well-thought-out signaling service.
Behind
these opposing views lies a larger difference of opinion about whether anyone
can predict the next move in a trading market. This fundamental disagreement
won't be settled any time soon. Nobel Prize-winning Economist Eugene Fama
proposes in his well-regarded Efficient Market Hypothesis that finding these
kinds of momentary market advantages really isn't possible.
His
economist colleague, Robert Shiller, also a Nobel Prize winner, believes
differently, citing evidence that investor sentiment creates booms and busts
that can provide investment and trading opportunities.
The
best way to determine if a signal seller can benefit you is to open a paper
money or practice trading account with one of the better-known forex brokers.
Be patient, and eventually, you'll determine whether predictive signaling works
for you or doesn't.
02
Phony Forex Investment Management Funds
In
the world of investing, outrageous claims are the surest sign of potential
fraud
In
the past few years, forex management funds have proliferated. Most of these, if
not all, are scams. They offer an investor the "opportunity" to have
his forex trades managed by highly-skilled forex traders who can offer
outstanding market returns in return for a share of the profits.
The
problem is, this "management" offer requires the investor to give up
control over his money and to hand it to someone he knows little about other
than the hyped-up and often completely false record of success available on the
scammer's website and brochures.
The
investor often ends up getting nothing, while the scammer uses investors' funds
to buy yachts and private islands.
A
good rule of thumb in the forex market, as with other investments, is that if
it sounds almost too good to be true, such as annual returns of more than 100
percent, for example, it's almost certainly a scam.
03
Dishonest Brokers
Trader
watching stocks crash on screen
Although the forex market is not entirely
unregulated, it has no central regulating authority. The forex spot market is
completely unregulated and accounts for the majority of trades. Unsurprisingly,
some forex brokers do not deal fairly with their customers and, in some
instances, defraud them.
You
have two ways to avoid bad brokers. Before engaging a forex broker, look the
brokerage up on a website that identifies dishonest forex brokers. Better yet,
trade with a broker that also handles other stock market trades and is subject
to SEC and FINRA oversight. While the forex trade itself may be unregulated, no
broker subject to such oversight would risk its license for other securities by
defrauding its forex customers.
