SINGAPORE — Over the course of several classes, a freelance tuition teacher and his underaged student grew fond of each other, discussing their family and health problems over text messages.

Then one day, she told him that she considered him her “soulmate”, even though he was three times her age. 

They soon became a couple and were sexually intimate for the first time shortly after she turned 12.

They carried on the illicit relationship for seven months until her parents found out about it.

On Wednesday (Feb 5) in the High Court, the 43-year-old man pleaded guilty to three charges of statutory rape and committing an indecent act with a child. He was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane. 

Four similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. He cannot be named due to a court order to protect the girl’s identity. 

The tuition centre’s name was removed from court documents as well.

The court heard that the girl was in Primary 6 when she met the tutor in early 2017. She started taking mathematics lessons at the tuition centre where he worked. He encouraged his students to call him on his mobile phone if they had any problems and would sometimes buy food for the whole class. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Asoka Markandu told the court: “Over time, the victim found the accused to be a caring and funny person during his tuition class… As the victim grew fond of him, she also suspected that he liked her a lot.” 

'LIKED HER BEST' AMONG STUDENTS

In mid-2017, the teacher told the girl that she could confide in him, which led to them exchanging text messages. 

By the end of the year, their conversations had become “increasingly intimate and personal”, DPP Asoka said.

Around Nov 2017, he told her that he liked her the best out of all his students.

When the tuition centre closed down two months later, the pair kept in touch. In March 2018, she confessed to him that she considered him her soulmate. 

About a month later, she agreed to be his girlfriend.

“By then, the victim felt that they had become very close and they shared many similarities, especially in music,” DPP Asoka told the court.

The girl kept their relationship a secret from her parents but told them that she wanted him as a private tutor.

Her parents then hired him to provide “one-on-one” tuition for mathematics, science and English in their home, and he began giving the girl private lessons every week for four hours.

Over the next few months, their text messages grew sexual, and the pair soon got physically intimate.

He took her to a handicapped toilet in a mall at Woodlands on her 12th birthday, where he groped her. This was her “first sexually intimate experience” with him, DPP Asoka said.

Between May and Sept 2018, they continued to get intimate in public toilets, at her home during their tuition lessons or in his flat, where the tutor lived with another girlfriend.

He raped her for the first time in Dec 2018 before repeating the act on two more occasions. He also taught her how to masturbate him.

His offences finally came to light on Dec 28 that year while the girl was in Malaysia with her parents on holiday. 

Realising that she was frequently on the phone sending text messages to her tutor, her mother demanded to look at the messages. 

She refused to comply, and her father intervened and took her phone away.

They then discovered what was going on, and banned her from further contacting the teacher.

'NO EXCUSE FOR OFFENCES'

DPPs Asoka and Eugene Teh sought 11 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane, saying that even though the girl had developed a liking for the tutor and consented to the sexual acts, he was responsible for taking advantage “of her naivety or to exploit her for his own sexual gratification”.

“At that tender age, the victim was not in a position to appreciate or understand the implications of a sexual relationship,” the prosecutors added.

The man’s lawyer, Mr Raphael Louis, said in mitigation that there was “no excuse” for what his client had done, and that he had wanted to plead guilty to his offences from the beginning.

Mr Louis added: “He went the extra mile to help his students academically and emotionally. There were times he lent a listening ear — he drew the proper boundaries and did exceptionally well as a tutor. He would also buy assessment books; he was friendly and approachable. 

"Unfortunately, because of his friendly demeanour, he didn’t draw proper boundaries with the victim.”

For statutory rape, the teacher could have been jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.