Police report filed against debate coach accused of sexually harassing students
SINGAPORE — A police report has been filed against a debate coach for alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour towards secondary school students he was mentoring five years ago.
The man, believed to be an employee of a statutory board, committed the alleged offences in 2013, when he was already in public service.
The statutory board did not respond to media queries and, as the case involves minors, TODAY is withholding the person's identity and details of his occupation.
Among other things, the man allegedly sent sexually explicit photos of himself to a student through WhatsApp and later had a "physical sexual encounter" with the minor, said the Debate Association (Singapore) in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 7).
A police spokesperson confirmed that a report has been lodged and that the police is looking into the matter.
The association has moved to ban the man, whom TODAY understands is in his 30s, from participating in any of its events.
In its statement, the Debate Association (Singapore) said the incidents allegedly took place when the man was the director of a programme called the Debate Development Initiative, which was started in 2012 to train and provide exposure to young debaters. The man was the first person to helm the programme, and his tenure lasted until 2014.
The programme caters to upper secondary students and takes in 15 to 17 students per batch. Six batches of students have gone through the programme.
REVIEW OF PROGRAMMES LED TO DISCOVERY
Details of the alleged sexual harassment and misconduct surfaced after the current executive committee of the Debate Association (Singapore) conducted extensive reviews of its programmes.
As the allegations centred on the debate coach, who is also a former executive committee member, the association decided to hold an independent audit to avoid conflict of interest.
Without providing names, the association said two "senior members of the debate community" were tasked with the audit, which included interviews with former members of the programme.
According to the association, a log of a WhatsApp group chat from July to September 2013 revealed that the man had allegedly made comments that were sexual in nature.
The man had apparently started the group chat to communicate with students outside of training sessions – to discuss participation in competitions, for instance.
But he ended up allegedly initiating discussions that focused on "sexual acts, sexual preferences and sexual history of participants in the group chat", said the association.
"During these discussions, pictures of (the) members were shared for the group to comment on. These discussions would include comments on physical characteristics, including genitalia," added the association.
The man apparently used terms such as "jailbait" and "sluts" to refer to some of the students in the programme.
According to one student, the man later chatted privately with the student and sent explicit photos of himself in July 2014. He allegedly pressured the student to send similar photos, said the association, which said it could not disclose the schools the affected students are from, for privacy reasons.
Their conversations continued until the end of that year, when the man and student had a sexual encounter. The student had completed the programme by then.
STUDENTS AFFECTED BY ALLEGED HARASSMENT ENCOURAGED TO FILE POLICE REPORTS
The Debate Association (Singapore), which describes itself as a non-profit volunteer-run organisation "that aims to develop, nurture and promote structured debate in Singapore", has organised inter-school debate competitions here for years.
Following the sexual allegations, it immediately stopped the Debate Development Initiative as it was "unwise to continue enrollment and training until a safer environment can be guaranteed". This has affected 16 students who enrolled last year, said the association.
Aside from banning the man from its future programmes and events, the Debate Association (Singapore) said it has contacted all students affected by the alleged sexual harassment.
The students have been encouraged to file their own police reports, and were provided options for counselling and assistance from social organisations equipped to deal with such cases, it said.
Current executive committee members who were previously assistant directors of the Debate Development Initiative have also chosen to step down from their positions although no allegations were made against them.
They said the lapses occurred when they were in the programme, and opted to step down "to allow for the executive committee to build new systems and processes".
On top of that, a code of conduct — aligned with the Ministry of Education's (MOE) regulations on instructor-student behaviour and communications — has been established for all current and future members. TODAY has contacted the ministry for comments.
An "equity committee" made up of senior members of the debate community has also been set up. It will be tasked to investigate any complaints lodged by members of the association and present recommendations for enforcement actions.
Stressing that "ethical standards can never be compromised", the association said it needs to be "transparent when mistakes occur within the organisation, no matter how deeply buried in the past they may be".
"The executive committee would like to assure the debate community, parents, schools and the public, that we remain committed to not just promoting the value of debate, but doing so in a manner where the safety and comfort of community members are always protected," it said.
