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SINGAPORE — A secondary school teacher in charge of a co-curricular activity (CCA) took advantage of his position to molest seven of his 14-year-old male charges over two years, telling them to keep quiet about it.

After sliding his hand into the shorts of one student and touching his private parts, he told the boy: “Play play only, don’t tell any teacher.”

On Thursday (Dec 5), the 37-year-old teacher pleaded guilty to three molestation charges in a district court. Another six charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing on Dec 17.

Neither the teacher nor his victims can be named due to a court gag order to protect their identities. The names of the secondary school and the uniformed group CCA were similarly redacted from court documents.

In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the teacher had been suspended since Sept 14, 2017, and is no longer teaching at any school. Following the court ruling, the ministry said it will commence internal disciplinary action against the man. 

MOE added that it takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to adhere to its standards of conduct and discipline, including dismissal from service.

“Teachers should conduct themselves in a manner which upholds the integrity of the profession and the trust placed in them,” said a spokesperson. 

ASKED BOY IF HE WATCHED PORN

The court heard that the teacher committed his offences from 2015 to 2017.

In 2015, he offered one of his victims a ride home. During the journey, he asked the boy — who was sitting in the front passenger seat — if he watched pornography.

Before the boy could answer, the teacher clenched his fist and moved it up and down in a gesture that suggested an act of masturbation.

The victim replied that he did not watch pornography. The man kept silent, but then suddenly slid his hand into the boy’s shorts when they arrived outside his home.

He also touched the boy’s private parts over his underwear for about three seconds, before letting him alight.

The boy was scared and did not know how to react, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Joshua Lim told the court. 

The teacher had driven the victim and another classmate home previously, but nothing happened then.

‘WHAT HAPPENS HERE, STAYS IN HERE’

Sometime in 2016, another 14-year-old boy was kneeling on the school’s gymnasium floor to clean it during a make-up CCA session. 

The teacher had organised the session as a form of punishment as some members had missed the previous day’s one.

He then went over to the boy and suddenly hugged him from behind. Uncomfortable with this, the boy tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

Undeterred, the teacher pulled the boy’s pants and underwear forward, giving him access to the boy’s private parts. He then clutched the boy’s genitals for a few seconds before walking off.

The victim did not know what to do, and the teacher told those present: “What happens here, stays in here.” The boy subsequently quit the CCA.

The following year, the teacher preyed on another 14-year-old boy during a session in the gym.

As the victim was using an exercise roller, he came over and asked the boy how low he could position his body with the equipment.

He told the boy that he would support him if he could not lower himself any further, then placed his hand under the boy’s body.

When the victim lowered himself, he suddenly clutched the victim’s genitals over his shorts. He then laughed when the boy fell forwards in shock.

The school principal lodged a police report on Sept 8, 2017. It was not stated how the offences came to light.

Court documents showed that in 2016 and 2017, he molested other boys by:

• Hugging one from behind while he was changing and shirtless, and pinching him on his left cheek

• Pinching another’s nipple and touching his private parts over his pants

• Hugging another from behind while he was carrying weights, then squeezing his private parts

• Slapping another’s buttocks three times while he was resting on a sofa

PREDATORS MASQUERADING AS PROTECTORS: DPP

DPP Lim sought at least two years and two months’ jail and three strokes of the cane, calling the teacher’s behaviour “persistent, wide-ranging and targeted”.

Society does not expect teachers to be “predators masquerading as protectors”, the prosecutor said, adding: “Is there a more cardinal sin in the teaching community?

“The court must send a zero-tolerance message to other would-be offenders in the education system who might consider abusing the trust reposed in them by society, parents and students, and remind them that the justice system will not look the other way when one in authority abuses a young person.”

In mitigation, the teacher’s lawyer said that he was “not trying to downplay his offences” and “stands here contrite and deeply ashamed of his actions”.