'A serial predator': Male ex-teacher jailed for trying to engage in sexual acts with 3 teen girls on separate occasions

A former secondary school teacher has been sentenced to jail for targeting three teenage girls and trying to engage in sexual activities with them on separate occasions in 2021.

The 33-year-old man, who was referred to as a "sexual predator" by prosecution, pleaded guilty to four charges under the Children and Young Persons Act on Aug 11 and was sentenced to nine months' jail.

The man cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victims’ identities.

Responding to AsiaOne's queries the Ministry of Education stated that the man is no longer working as a teacher, and stopped working for the ministry in March 2022.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Bryan Wong told the court that the man was posted to the school in 2017 and had given advice to its student councillors.

He also regularly received and accepted "follow" requests from students on his personal Instagram account.

The man got to know one of the victims when he taught her in Secondary 1. The pair followed each other on Instagram, and she left the school some time before 2021.

In April 2021, the man reached out to her via Instagram to ask how she was doing in her studies. He also turned on the "vanish mode" feature in the chats, so their messages would disappear from the platform.

During that month, he began sending sexually suggestive text messages to the girl, such as asking her to "fantasise" about him.

DPP Wong continued that some time later that month, the accused tried to get the victim, who was 16 years old, to commit an indecent act by "repeatedly suggesting to her that they become 'friends with benefits' — the implication being that they would meet regularly to engage in... sexual acts with each other".

The girl rejected his advances and told the man to stop sending her such messages.

He later stopped doing so, and she alerted a former teacher from the school about what the man had done.

The second victim got to know the man when he taught her in Secondary 4. They also followed each other on Instagram, and she left the school in 2021. In September that year, he asked her to tell him about her "sexual kink" while using Instagram's "vanish mode".

The prosecutor said that at a later date, the accused tried to get the victim, who was 17 years old, to commit an indecent act by saying he was willing to have sex with her if she too was open to the idea.

"The accused also added that his home was out of bounds, and they could consider renting a room to have sex together," the prosecutor said.

This girl also rejected his advances and stopped communicating with him. She later told a former teacher from the school about the man's conduct.

Third victim was a student in the school

The man had asked the third victim out on Oct 17, 2021, and she agreed to meet him.

The man then booked a room at a Tanjong Pagar hotel, and the girl — who was a 15-year-old student councillor in the school he taught at — met him there later that day. 

The pair were sitting on a bed when he tried to kiss her, but she pushed him and turned her face away. He also asked her to perform a sexual act on him, but she refused. The man eventually placed the girl's hand over his private parts, and she pulled her hand away.

DPP Wong said: "The accused stopped after realising his actions made the victim feel uncomfortable... He eventually drove her to her home in his own vehicle."

On or around Oct 21, 2021, the man continued to send the girl sexually charged messages. She deleted her Instagram account.

He left the school in December that year. However, the man messaged the third victim via Telegram in early 2022 to apologise for his actions at the hotel.

He told her that reports had been filed against him over the inappropriate messages he had sent to the other students. A few days later, the girl told the school about her own experience.

DPP Wong told the court that the victim had reported a difficulty in forming romantic relationships with others.

"She reported taking 30 days of medical leave per semester and having to take sleeping pills to cope with stress."

"She would also often cry in school. This incident has severely impacted her ability to study and will have lasting ramifications on her prospects," he added.

The man's bail was set at $20,000 on Aug 11 and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on Sept 1.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com