Former principal charged with molesting seven schoolboys in 2017

SINGAPORE — A 46-year-old former male principal at a secondary school was charged on Wednesday (June 26) with 11 counts of outrage of modesty.

He was accused of molesting seven boys in 2017.

The man allegedly pinched a Secondary One boy on his private parts one morning in late August, before abusing other boys aged between 13 and 15 in the next two months.

The purported acts ranged from touching their nipples to sliding his hand into their underwear.

The former principal and the school cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the young victims’ identities.

Most of the incidents took place in the morning.

Two of the boys — a 14- and 15-year-old — were allegedly molested three times.

To the 14-year-old, the former principal was said to have slid his hand under his shorts to touch his private parts on three mornings in September and October 2017.

As for the 15-year-old, he was said to have first touched his nipple over his shirt pocket one morning in early October that year. He also allegedly poked his groin area on Oct 16 and Oct 23 in 2017.

The former principal’s LinkedIn profile showed that he had once managed an all-boys school in Singapore.

The man was offered bail of S$15,000 and will return to court on July 24.

The maximum punishment for molesting a boy aged below 14 is five years’ jail, a fine and caning.