SINGAPORE: A high school teacher who was popular with college students abused a 15-year-old student in his car and asked her to imagine that he was her ex-boyfriend.
The 33-year-old man, who cannot be named due to warrants to protect the victim’s identity, pleaded guilty to one sexual penetration of a minor and twice to an indecent act with a young person on Tuesday (Nov. 24) .
A further three similar charges will be considered for sentencing.
The perpetrator was a secondary school English and Literature teacher who was not mentioned in court documents, while the victim was a student of Secondary 4 at the time.
In late 2016, the teacher began sending text messages to the victim, communicating further via Snapchat and Telegram, and later inviting her to join a school team he was in charge of.
The victim declined, but agreed to his offer to buy her coffee in February 2017. The teacher met the victim in the school cafeteria and handed her the drink before asking if she had time to talk.
They talked in the cafeteria while the teacher asked her about topics such as her relationship with her ex-boyfriend.
The following week, he sent a message to a chat group asking if either of the two girls was free there and wanted to meet.
The victim replied that she was available, while her classmate did not respond. The teacher met the victim on the empty deck of her block and they talked for about an hour on February 22, 2017.
That weekend, he asked the victim to take him for a ride and told her not to tell anyone.
He drove to her house on February 25, 2017 and complimented her appearance before driving the girl to another block “to play cards”.
He parked in front of a playground and started to touch the girl and asked if she trusted him. He was bothering her and the teenager did not respond.
He later sexually assaulted her, but she felt uncomfortable and grabbed his wrist. When he asked if “she liked it,” she said no. But he took his hand away and asked her to imagine that he was her ex-boyfriend.
He exposed himself while the victim closed her eyes and asked her to perform a sexual act with him. The teenager told the teacher that she was uncomfortable and refused.
The teacher eventually drove to buy food and took the victim to the Marina Bay area before taking her home, to remind her not to tell anyone what had happened.
When the teen got home, she blocked her teacher from the mobile apps they used to communicate with each other.
The following Monday, she told her close friends what had happened and the incident was reported to the school. Because the victim had not gone to school since the incident, staff members went to her home and reported to the police later that day.
A BAD ABUSE OF TRUST: PROSECUTOR
Deputy Prosecutor James Chew asked for four years in prison, saying the man’s actions were a “serious abuse of trust as a teacher” and were premeditated.
The victim also suffered psychologically from his actions and now feels that she cannot trust people she has just met. She also thought she shouldn’t go to school to avoid the culprit.
When she sees people waiting on the empty deck, she is scared and has occasional flashbacks to the incident, Mr. Chew said.
“It is clear that teachers have a duty to not only adhere to the law, but also to adhere to the code of conduct established by MOE (Ministry of Education) in terms of their interactions with all students,” said Chew, adding that the offender’s actions are serious. did not meet these standards.
“The main issue here is one of public concern because when teachers abuse the trust placed in them by the public, by parents, by students and such violations, it casts doubt on the safety and security of our schools. “
He added that the victim passed her O-Level exams that year and that the incident “was certainly not something that would have helped the victim and certainly the opposite.”
Lawyer Edmond Pereira said four years in prison was “unnecessarily high.” He said his client has had no previous convictions, lives with his parents and has since resigned.
He said the “delay” in the investigation and prosecution has created a lot of uncertainty in the man’s life, leaving him only working part-time and unable to get a permanent job because he knew he would have to go to prison.
He was also psychologically affected by the case and had to seek help, Pereira said.
A POPULAR TEACHER, UNLIKELY TO RESTORE: DEFENSE
“The accused is a very popular school teacher and met a lot of students, past and present, and they always met in the courtyard of the school and that’s how he met the (victim),” Pereira said.
The lawyer said the former teacher is unlikely to reoffend and has “strong family support,” although he added that the perpetrator’s parents are “extremely ashamed of what happened.”
In response, the prosecutor acknowledged that it took a few years for the investigation to be completed, but said it was not an excessive delay.
He explained that a second victim in the allegations being taken into account had to be found and investigations conducted. These accusations involve the perpetrator showing a 15-year-old girl an obscene video in a car, kissing her, and putting his hand on her thigh before moving it up.
The judge has postponed the sentencing until November 26.
For sexual penetration of a minor, the man can receive up to 10 years in prison, a fine, or both. For an indecent act committed by a young person, he could face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to S $ 10,000, or both.
CNA has contacted MOE for more information.
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