A 35-year-old teahcer, whose name was withheld by the court, had pleaded guilty to one charge of sexually exploiting a young girl student. He taught both lower and upper secondary classes at a school and was also in-charge of Co-Curricular Activity (CCA).
As a CCA teacher-in-charge, he was sending text messages to the girl student nad met her a few times outside at a saloon and at a tea shop in a mall in July last year, revealed court documents.
On Jul 28, 2018, he chaperoned a group of students, including the victim, out to a play and after the event he had asked the girl to join him for a dinner at a Japanese restaurant. After the meal, he asked her to ist next to him and then placed his arm over around her shoulder, leaned in and kissed her on lips, said the prosecution version.
"The victim was shocked and nervous and felt embarrassed and scared. Unsure of how to react, she burst out laughing," noted the prosecution. Again at a flight of stairs, he suddenly kissed the girl on her lips for the second time, according to the prosecution.
The girl later told a teacher who in turn lodged a police report a month after the incident.
Arguing the case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ben Mathias Tan had asked for at least eight months' jail. But the defence lawyer said that his client had admitted to the offence and a lenient sentence be given.
Under the Children and Young Persons Act, the perpetrators of child abuse face a jail term of up to five years, fine up to S$10,000, or both.
