Tutor jailed for kissing teenage student, committing indecent acts on her at his home

SINGAPORE: A 38-year-old tutor sent sexually charged texts to his 14-year-old former student, before kissing her in his car and taking her home where he committed multiple indecent acts on her.

The teenager was so affected by the incidents that she suffered suicidal thoughts and hurt herself. 

The 38-year-old man, whose name was redacted from court documents, was jailed for eight months on Tuesday (May 25).

He pleaded guilty to two charges of committing an indecent act with a young person, with a third charge taken into consideration.

The court heard that the man was a freelance tutor teaching Mathematics and Science to students in Primary 1 to Primary 6.

The victim, who was 14 at the time of the offences, was tutored by him when she was in Primary 5 and Primary 6. Her parents withdrew her from the classes after her grades began falling.

In 2018, when the victim was in Secondary 2, the accused contacted her via Instagram and began chatting with her on WhatsApp.

On Feb 28, 2019, the victim posted on Instagram saying that she was preparing cards for her schoolmates for her school's "appreciation day", and that anyone who wanted one could request a card.

The accused sent her a message saying he wanted a card and said he would go over to pick it up personally. He drove to the victim's school a few days later and picked up the card before offering to drive her home.

She accepted the ride, and the accused began texting her regularly. Some of the messages were sexually charged and the tutor admitted on Mar 31, 2019, that he had feelings for the girl.

The victim wanted to reject the older man, but was afraid that he might react badly and so made it appear as if she shared his sentiments.

She went over to his home at his invitation on multiple occasions between early April and June 2019, when his wife was not home.

In early April 2019, the tutor picked the girl up from school and stopped his car along Upper Thomson Road at a secluded area. He kissed the victim on her lips against her consent. 

On Jun 3, 2019, the tutor invited the victim to his house to celebrate her birthday and drove to pick her up before taking her back to his home.

The girl tried to resist when the man began undressing her as they were watching a movie in his living room. He then kissed her, lay on top of her and committed indecent acts on her.

The girl resisted and pushed his hands away, and the man stopped his actions.

The victim was afraid to report the crimes as she feared the embarrassment if others found out and worried that people would laugh or spread rumours about her.

She was also afraid that her parents would scold her and she began having suicidal thoughts.

On Jun 27, 2019, she cut herself and took 40 Panadol tablets before passing out. Her father took her to the hospital. 

She later said she took the pills because she was depressed over the situation and wanted to signal to her parents that she was depressed. 

When she saw a psychologist in August 2019 for her depression, she revealed what had happened, and the psychologist called the police.

For each charge of committing an indecent act on a young person, he could have been jailed up to five years, fined up to S$10,000 or both.