76-year-old relief teacher jailed for kissing 9-year-old girl

76-year-old relief teacher jailed for kissing 9-year-old girl

SINGAPORE - A 76-year-old former relief teacher, who kissed a 9-year-old student on the lips twice, says the girl reminded him of his first love.

For outraging the young girl's modesty, the retiree was sentenced to four weeks in jail on Thursday.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the man was teaching Chinese at a school in the northern part of Singapore when he met the victim.

The elderly man was assigned to teach the girl's class, and was attracted to her because she reminded him of a girlfriend he had when he was 18 years old.

He first kissed the girl on the lips when he saw her in a corridor outside the school hall in 2013. She was a primary three pupil at the time.

In 2014, he was again assigned to teach the girl's class. On one occasion, he told the girl to help him carry some books out of the classroom. Remembering the first incident, the girl asked a friend to accompany her but the friend did not want to.

The girl then followed him out of the classroom and when they were outside the library, the teacher suddenly turned around and forced another kiss on her lips. He then acted as if nothing was wrong and told her to return to the classroom.

Shocked and afraid, the girl drank a lot of water to 'wash' her lips. She did not dare to tell anyone about the incident.

The same relief teacher was again assigned to teach the girl's class this year.

Lianhe Wanbao reported that the man wrote his number down on a piece of paper and asked the girl to contact him. He also asked her to help carry some books again. Remembering what had happened before, the girl refused.

She tore up the piece of paper and later confided in her mother about what had happened and a police report was made.

ljessica@sph.com.sg

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