Tennis coach jailed nearly 3 years for sexually abusing his 15-year-old male student

• Phoo Siang Qing took an interest in a boy he was coaching for tennis 
• He took him out for dinners and asked to kiss him
• He soon got physically intimate with the boy and showered with him
• Phoo’s lawyer said that he suffered from depression at the time of the offences

SINGAPORE — Within the span of a year, a freelance tennis coach sexually exploited his underage male student up to nine times.

On some occasions, Phoo Siang Qing invited the 15-year-old boy to shower with him in the bathroom, perform a sex act on him and asked the boy to do the same.

On Friday (Dec 18), the Singaporean man, now aged 40, was jailed two years and nine months.

His victim is now 21 years old and cannot be named due to a court order to protect his identity.

Phoo pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a young person and a third charge of sexually penetrating a minor. Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun considered another six similar charges for sentencing.

The court heard that while the victim was in Secondary 1 in 2011, he took up tennis as his co-curricular activity. Phoo was his tennis coach in school.

The boy grew closer to Phoo around June 2013, after they went on a trip with the boy’s tennis-playing friends to Malaysia for a friendly match.

The victim’s parents enrolled him for extra training lessons with Phoo because he wanted to train more.

DINNERS, MOVIES, KISSING

Phoo committed his offences between June 2013 and March 2014.

On some occasions, he invited the boy to dinner before dropping him off at the car park of his home.

Phoo also sometimes asked if the boy wanted to watch a movie together. The victim thought Phoo was trying to be like a brother to him, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Zu Zhao told the court.

After a while, he began kissing the victim’s cheek and forehead while saying goodbye in his car. He also asked the boy if he could kiss his lips but the boy was reluctant. When Phoo persisted in his requests, the boy relented.

From then on, it became the norm for Phoo to kiss the boy whenever he drove him home. They gradually began to hug and kiss each other while in the car or alone in Phoo’s home.

Later, the coach began touching the boy’s thigh. The boy pushed his hand away on the first few occasions but began allowing it when Phoo persisted.

Things progressed further with Phoo touching the boy’s crotch.

He also got the boy to touch him and the boy gave in after some persuasion even though he was reluctant at first.

When he followed Phoo home after training, they showered together in the bathroom in the kitchen and engaged in sex acts on Phoo’s initiation.

Court documents did not reveal how the offences came to light.

PHOO SUFFERED FROM DEPRESSION, LAWYER SAYS

DPP Lee sought at least four years’ jail while Phoo’s lawyer, Mr Peter Keith Fernando, asked for one year and four months’ jail instead.

Mr Fernando said in mitigation that his client came from an abusive family environment up to his teenage years, which had an impact on his self-esteem and self-worth.

When he realised in secondary school that he was not attracted to females, Phoo felt “uncomfortable and ashamed of his sexuality”.

In late 2009, Phoo began suffering from depression after the abrupt end of a two-year relationship.

Mr Fernando told the court that Phoo contemplated suicide and sought treatment, but suffered from persistent depression in 2010 with “seasonable bouts” several times a year.

His psychiatrist stated that he had severe depression at the time of the offences.

“It was also the (psychiatrist’s opinion) that he had no coping mechanisms to deal with the depression symptoms. He has had 24 counselling sessions… he understands the wrong he has committed and wholly regrets his actions,” Mr Fernando added.

However, in rebuttal, DPP Lee said that psychiatric reports did not show how his conditions reduced his culpability in any way. 

Mr Fernando argued that there was no breach of trust since Phoo had perceived that he was in a relationship with the victim. The victim had “expressed curiosity about sexuality” and asked Phoo about it.

In passing sentence, District Judge Ong agreed with the prosecution that there was abuse of trust.

For sexual exploitation of a young person, Phoo could have been fined up to S$10,000 or jailed up to five years, or both.

For sexual penetration of a minor under 16, he could have been jailed up to 10 years or fined, or both.