13-10-2023 (SINGAPORE) A former teacher, aged 64, has been sentenced to three weeks in jail in Singapore after he sent sexually explicit messages to a male student, aged 15, about sex toys. The man pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 16 in court on Thursday. Due to a court order protecting the victim’s identity, neither the offender nor the victim can be named.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore confirmed on Friday that the offender has left the teaching service and has not been teaching at any school since February when the case was reported to MOE. A spokesperson from MOE emphasized that they take staff misconduct seriously and will take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to their standards of conduct and discipline, including dismissal from service.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Da Zhuan informed the court that the teacher knew the victim in 2020 when the boy was a Secondary 1 student, and they had a teacher-student relationship. Towards the end of the previous year, the teacher began sending sexually explicit text messages to the student, including discussions about the use of sex toys. The court documents did not specify how long the teacher had been engaging in such text exchanges with the student.
DPP Lee mentioned two occasions, on November 28 and January 28, when the teacher sent the boy sexually explicit messages, including a video of a sex toy. The victim felt sexually exploited and alarmed by the accused’s messages, prompting him to make a police report on February 27.
The prosecution sought a sentence of at least one month, arguing that the teacher had abused the victim’s trust and acted against his responsibilities as a teacher. For sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 16, the teacher could have been sentenced to up to seven years in jail, fined up to S$10,000 (US$7,300), or both.
