SINGAPORE — A swimming coach convicted of sexually exploiting a 12-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 months’ jail on Friday (May 5).

Tan Koek Seng, 68, committed an obscene act with the boy in a toilet cubicle at Hougang Swimming Complex on Feb 8, 2015.

While he had admitted to committing the act in two police statements, he claimed during the trial that he was approached by the boy to do so and rejected him.

He also claimed that the whole incident was made up by Mr Philip Ee, a lifeguard who had reported him to the police on March 1 that year following a complaint from the boy’s mother, and that other staff members of the swimming complex were jealous of him.

Mr Ee testified during the trial that he had no ulterior motive in lying, and he notified the police only because a criminal offence had been committed.

Despite multiple attempts to reach the boy’s mother, she refused to take the stand, or allow her son to testify in court. Both of them cannot be named.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chee Ee Ling had called for a minimum jail term of 15 months for Tan.

“The accused is a menace to society — he was a swimming coach and had regular contact with young boys,” DPP Chee said. Tan was known to the boy as one of the swimming coaches at the complex, and had abused the trust that the boy had in him, she added.

Tan’s swimming licence has since been suspended by Sport Singapore, and he is now unemployed.

Under the Children and Young Persons Act, he could have been jailed five years, fined S$10,000, or both.