76-year-old teacher gets four weeks’ jail for kissing student
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — A 76-year-old relief teacher was today (Oct 15) sentenced to four weeks’ jail for kissing a female student 65 years younger than him.
In sentencing the offender — who cannot be named as it may lead to the identification of the victim — on two counts of using criminal force with the intention to outrage the modesty of the same student, District Judge Matthew Joseph said he had abused his trust as a teacher, and his acts left the victim in fear.
“Instead of educating her, you chose to exploit her,” the judge said.
The court heard that the man first got acquainted with the victim in mid-2013 when she was in Primary 3, as her Chinese relief teacher. He took a liking to her as he felt she resembled his former girlfriend.
Sometime that year, he kissed her on the lips outside the school hall, near the staff room at her school.
About a year later, he was again assigned as the victim’s Chinese relief teacher. On one occasion, he appointed her to assist him in carrying some books out of the classroom. Due to her prior experience with the teacher, the victim sought a classmate’s company but was refused.
When the man and the girl walked past a the school library, he suddenly turned and kissed her for one to two seconds, the court was told. After that, he instructed her to return to class.
Feeling uncomfortable, the victim drank water to clean her lips. However, she did not inform anyone about the incident.
In early 2015, the man was, for a third time, assigned to teach the victim’s class. On one occasion, he passed her a slip of paper with his mobile number written on it and told her to contact him. He again sought her help in carrying books out of the classroom, but this time, she refused, fearing that he would kiss her again. She also chucked the slip of paper.
A few days later, she confided in her mother about the kissing by the man. Her mother lodged a police report.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Agnes Chan sought a sentence of at least four weeks, stressing that the man’s offences were most aggravated by his abuse of his position as a teacher.
She also cited the wide age disparity between the man and his victim, that his acts were not a one-off incident, and the psychological harm they left on the victim.
The court heard that after the incident, the victim had lived in “fear that someone might enter the home after the family had gone to bed”.
Pleading for lenience, defence lawyer Edmond Pereira called the judge to take into account the man’s old age, and that no element of force or other forms of bodily contact were involved in the acts.
It was a “fleeting peck” and nothing more, said Mr Pereira, who sought a lighter sentence of two weeks.
“(He was) looking forward to having a grandchild...and (was) fond of the girl,” he said.
In sentencing, DJ Joseph said he cannot ignore the young age of the victim, which makes her “extremely vulnerable”. “She did not know what to do after the offending act...makes your act that much more reprehensible,” he said.
