Female teacher jailed for sex offences against underaged male student

The female secondary teacher and her underaged male student exchanged sexually explicit text messages, had trysts at parks, then spent five days together in a Geylang hotel.

Then 26, the teacher was going overseas and it was during this "staycation" to make up for being away that she committed sex acts with the boy, then 15.

Now 29, she was jailed for two years and nine months yesterday after pleading guilty to two counts each of offences under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) and committing sexual penetration acts involving a minor.

District Judge Christopher Tan said the case called for stiff punishment as the abuse of trust was significant.

The court heard the teacher, who cannot be named to protect the boy's identity, got to know him when she taught his Secondary One class Mathematics in 2014.

She taught him for two more years and they grew close during a National Cadet Corps camp in March 2016.

She texted him after the camp and they confessed feelings for each other, entering into a relationship in September.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Yvonne Poon said they went on jogs, watched movies together, and she would drive him to reservoirs and parks to get intimate.

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It was during their hotel stay between Nov 28 and Dec 2 that the teacher asked the boy to sexually stimulate her on two occasions.

The boy, who had lied to his mother he was at a school camp, complied. The accused also performed indecent acts on him.

Their relationship was discovered when the boy's mother found love letters the teacher had written and folded into heart shapes in her son's belongings.

The boy had also asked his mother if she would marry someone 11 years older.

The mother alerted the school and the principal lodged a police report.

Investigations found explicit text messages on the teacher's phone, photographs and a two-minute video of the student and teacher kissing.

In her submissions, DPP Poon said the teacher had exerted a morally corrupting influence on the victim, who was in a vulnerable position, when she was supposed to play the role of nurturer and educator.

"She did not shy away from despoiling the victim's innocence for her own sexual gratification," DPP Poon wrote.

In mitigation, defence counsel T.M. Sinnadurai said the accused knew the relationship was inappropriate and agreed she should not have entered into it. But a doctor's report found she was unable to shake it off due to her weak nature.

He added she has since sought psychiatric help. She is out on $15,000 bail and must surrender herself to the court on June 24.

A Ministry of Education spokesman told The New Paper she had been suspended from duty since February 2017 and no longer teaches in any school.

The spokesman added: "MOE takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and discipline, including dismissal from service."

Under the CYPA, she could have been jailed up to five years, fined up to $10,000, or both, for sexually exploiting the boy. Those convicted of sexual penetration involving a minor can be jailed up 10 years, fined, or both.

This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.