Jail, caning for tutor who sexually abused 13-year-old boy

SINGAPORE — A private tutor, who had a previous conviction for molesting a minor, was hired to tutor a 13-year-old boy after he advertised his tuition services. Two months after he started giving lessons, Teo Boon Kang sexually assaulted his student.

The 49-year-old was sentenced to 10 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane on Tuesday (Aug 21) after a four-day trial. He was found guilty of two counts of attempted sexual assault by penetration, one count of outrage of modesty, and one count of committing an indecent act with a child.

During the trial, the victim — who cannot be identified due to a court order — testified via a video link that he felt something was amiss with his tuition teacher from the start.

After their first tuition session at a McDonald's outlet in March 2016, he told his parents that Teo slapped his buttocks each time he got out of or into his seat.

However, his parents asked him to give the new tutor "one more chance", saying they had checked with Teo and found that he was merely trying to be "friendly".

Following that, Teo made other advances on the boy, such as proposing a late-night study session, and giving him a G-Shock watch in a wrapper that had heart shapes.

Then on the afternoon of May 12, 2016, when there was supposed to be a tuition session at Teo's house, he told the boy he could choose to skip tuition and go swimming, or have tuition first before going swimming.

The boy did not know that he would be going swimming beforehand and was sure that his parents were not aware about the change in programme, but he chose the first option, he said.

At the swimming pool of the Home Team NS Clubhouse in Bukit Batok West, Teo handed him a pair of tights to wear. When the boy complained that it was too small, Teo reached his hands into the tights and helped him adjust the swimwear despite his many refusals saying that he could do it himself.

After the swim, Teo told him that they have to shower together because he had just one towel. The boy asked Teo to shower first, but the tutor forcibly pulled him into the cubicle and closed the door behind them.

Teo then started soaping the boy, who was feeling fearful and uncomfortable, and sexually assaulted him in the process, even though the boy shouted at him to stop.

Traumatised, the victim was still held captive after that due to fear and had to have a meal at a KFC fast-food joint with Teo, who asked him if he felt "very clean right now".

FEAR OF BEING MOCKED

Home after the ordeal, the victim told his mother that he was molested before locking himself in his room. He did not want to say more because he was afraid that others would think he was a "coward who didn't even fight back", he testified.

The victim also felt inferior because he was a student in the Normal (Academic) stream in school. He told the court: "I am NA. People will make fun (of me)."

The victim's mother testified that she called Teo to find out what had happened, only to hear different accounts — from an outright denial to conceding that he had showered with her son.

During the trial, Teo claimed that he was afraid the boy would catch a cold if they didn't shower quickly. The mother said that Teo did not tell her this point when they talked on the phone.

She and her husband made a police report close to a month later on June 5, 2016. They held off at first because they were afraid it might harm their son or he may be mocked by friends, but a relative who was a retired police officer convinced them otherwise.

The victim was never the same after the incident. He told the court that he became more "homophobic", experiencing anger when he sees men dressing up as women.

His mother noted that he became "very bad-tempered" and would isolate himself.

His father, who found and hired the tutor, observed that his son deliberately distanced himself from him, angry that he got him into trouble.

A psychologist who assessed the victim on April 12 last year testified that he had post-traumatic stress symptoms that caused him to have difficulty sleeping or concentrating on his school work.

When arguing for a harsher sentence for Teo's outrage of modesty charge, Deputy Public Prosecutor Eunice Lau highlighted that he had committed three similar offences on his nephew's friend — also a 13-year-old boy — back in 2009, and was jailed 16 months and caned thrice for that, but he "has patently not learnt his lesson".

During sentencing, District Judge Terence Tay condemned Teo for his "pedophilic advances" and "slew of abhorrent acts" on someone four times younger than him, noting that he was doing so under the cover that he is a "versatile teacher who is adept at teaching science and swimming".

For attempted sexual assault by penetration, Teo could have been jailed up to 20 years for the offence.