Jail, fine and caning for secondary school CCA coach who molested 13 male students

SINGAPORE — Over about three years, a male secondary school co-curricular activity (CCA) coach molested 13 boys who were members of his CCA.

The 40-year-old Singaporean was sentenced on Monday (Nov 20) to three-and-a-half year's jail with eight strokes of the cane and a S$2,500 fine after pleading guilty to six charges.

These were four charges for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a person, one charge under the Protection from Harassment Act and one charge under the Children and Young Persons Act.

Another 23 similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Both the man and the victims cannot be named as part of a court order to protect the students' identities.

The man was an allied educator — non-teaching staff member who work with teachers to nurture and develop students, such as school counsellors and student welfare officers. Some of these educators work with teachers to enhance students' learning.

The court heard that the coach had been with the secondary school since about 2008 and had taught English and literature, in addition to his role as a CCA coach.

Investigations revealed that he molested the students between the end of 2015 and 2018.

MOLESTING STUDENTS IN THE CCA CLASSROOM

Although the educator had a cubicle in the teachers' office, he would base himself at the teacher's table in the CCA classroom, effectively treating it as his "personal staff room".

While he was not the only person in-charge of the CCA, other teachers hardly visited the classroom.

The blinds in the classroom were always closed, as he instructed, and he would remind his students to keep whatever happened in the classroom to themselves.

The educator also created an environment where any touching by him was normalised on the pretext of him acting affectionately in a brotherly or playful manner.

Sometime between May and October 2017, the man slipped his hand into a 14-year-old boy's shorts and touched his private parts.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Zu Zhao said that the coach also had a sexual conversation with another 14-year-old student.

The following year, he molested a 13-year-old student over his shorts and squeezed a 15-year-old's private parts while the boy sat on his lap.

MOLESTED BOY AT CHALET

Sometime around the end of 2015, a student, who was between 13 and 15, attended an annual stay at a chalet, an event that was usually extended to the CCA's executive committee members.

On the second night, the student fell asleep on the sofa in the living room.

He woke up later that night when he felt someone touching his private parts.

It was then that he realised he was on a bed in the chalet's bedroom with the coach.

The student could feel the man's abdomen pressed against his back and an arm across his torso, DPP Lee said.

The coach's hand was also touching his private parts underneath his shorts.

Feeling scared, the student pretended to sleep and waited for the man to fall asleep before he left the bedroom.

Before this incident, the coach had also asked the same student, when he was 13, to kiss him on the lips.

The incident came to light in October 2018 after one of the students from the CCA told his mother about the touching and kissing, and a police report was filed.

MAN HAD CONTROL OVER LOCATION

DPP Lee pointed out to the court that there was "premeditation" on the part of the man because he had control over the location where the CCA was held and he was careful to commit the acts within the classroom.

The victims were essentially in a situation where the educator could do what he wanted without being afraid that the victims would report him.

For attempting to procure an indecent act by a child, the educator could have been jailed for up to five years or fined up to S$10,000, or both.

For each charge of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a person, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, or caned, or been given any combination of these punishments.

He could have also been jailed for up to five years, fined, or caned, or received any combination of these punishments for committing the same offence against a person under 14.

For using insulting words or behaviour, he could have been fined up to S$5,000.