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Ex-primary school vice-principal who became student’s guardian jailed 10 years for sexually abusing him

SINGAPORE — The vice-principal of a primary school took advantage of his teenage student in the school’s gym in 2003, before sexually assaulting him repeatedly in his own home after becoming the boy’s guardian.

The court heard that the ex-vice principal is appealing against the conviction and 10-year jail sentence.

The court heard that the ex-vice principal is appealing against the conviction and 10-year jail sentence.

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SINGAPORE — The vice-principal of a primary school took advantage of his teenage student in the school’s gym in 2003, before sexually assaulting him repeatedly in his own home after becoming the boy’s guardian.

The victim, a Chinese national who is now aged 30, lodged a police report only in 2015 after the man refused to give him S$200,000 in compensation.

On Wednesday (Oct 16), the man — who has been suspended from duty since December 2015 and is not working at any school — was sentenced to 10 years’ jail in a district court.

His lawyer TM Sinnadurai told the court that he will be appealing against the conviction and sentence. He remains out on an increased bail amount of S$30,000.

The 57-year-old had been found guilty in August of three counts of sexual exploitation of a young person and five counts of carnal intercourse against the order of nature, which took place from 2003 to 2006.

The latter charges fell under Section 377 of the 1985 revised edition of the Penal Code, which was repealed in 2007.

Before sentencing the man, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said that he considered the “gross abuse of authority and position of trust as a vice-principal, guardian and mentor” that the man exhibited.

He had also used emotional blackmail and showed a lack of remorse by contesting the charges, the judge added.

Two other charges under the Films Act — for possessing one uncensored film and nine obscene films — were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew had argued for the sentence imposed, saying that other teachers would have been less likely to question his interactions with the victim as he was the vice-principal.

“He was charged with the responsibility to care for the victim and to be his guardian, but in taking on this role and bringing the victim to live with him, and then further making him sleep in the same room, he gave himself almost unrestricted access to exploit the victim — which he did not have as a vice-principal,” the prosecutor added.

Neither the man nor his victim can be named due to a court gag order to protect the latter’s identity.

HOW IT BEGAN

The victim arrived in Singapore from China when he was about nine years old. He became the vice-head prefect of the school in Primary 5 in 2003, and reported to the man every morning in his office.

One weekend, during a rehearsal for a workout event that year, the man pushed the victim to the wall of the school’s gym and performed a sex act on him.

The next year, the boy became head prefect of the school. He started going for one-on-one English tuition lessons at the man’s Woodlands home on weekends.

The man convinced him that it was “normal and healthy” for males to masturbate each other to release their sexual desires and urges, then performed more sex acts on him.

The victim testified that he was abused about once every two weeks, during tuition lessons.

At the end of 2004, after he completed his Primary School Leaving Examination, his guardian was repatriated by the immigration authorities.

The man offered to become his guardian and asked him to move in and share a bed with him. There, he continued performing sexual acts on the victim.

VICTIM GOT MARRIED

In 2008 and 2009, when the victim was in junior college, he began thinking about moving out. He knew what they were doing was not right, but felt obliged to take care of the man’s elderly parents, whom he began regarding as grandparents.

When he found out he had gonorrhoea in 2011, he decided not to let the man sexually abuse him anymore.

In June 2013, the pair went on a trip to Scandinavia. The victim met a woman and secretly began dating her, before telling her what the man had done.

They have since tied the knot.

With her encouragement, he moved out of the house after returning to Singapore. The man told him not to report the matter to the police or he could commit suicide.

In August 2015, the victim chanced upon the man’s niece at his workplace. The niece encouraged him to make a police report, saying he could have done the same thing to other boys.

Still, the victim was reluctant to go to the authorities as he knew the man would lose his job and his family would be affected. He was also worried that his own reputation would be at stake, and did not want his own parents to find out.

A few months later, the victim contacted the man and asked for S$200,000 in compensation, after discussing the matter with his wife and law student friend.

In the following days, the man grew unresponsive. When they eventually met in person on Nov 24, 2015, he served a legal letter on the victim.

The victim lodged a police report the next day. The man was then arrested.

 

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abuse primary school court crime jail sexual offence

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