Primary school teacher on trial for molesting 12-year-old male student

SINGAPORE — A 35-year-old male teacher began standing trial in a district court on Monday (Aug 24) for molesting a male student, then aged 12, three times within a span of two days.

The primary school teacher cannot be named due to a court order to protect the identity of the boy, who is now 16 years old. The school cannot be named either.

The Singaporean man, who used to be the boy’s form teacher, allegedly committed the offences on June 15 and 16 in 2017.

He had been suspended from service since July 2017 and no longer teaches in any school, a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesperson said in response to TODAY’s queries.

He is contesting three charges of molesting or attempting to molest a minor under 14.

Two other charges — one of voluntarily causing hurt by grabbing the boy’s wrists and slapping his cheek, and another of exhibiting an obscene object by showing him a pornographic video on his MacBook laptop — have been stood down for the time being.

The teacher is accused of:

• Tapping the boy’s private parts over his shorts

• Putting his hand into the boy’s underwear to molest him

• Trying to touch the boy’s private parts over his shorts in the early morning of June 16, 2017

Deputy Public Prosecutors Lim Ying Min and Eugene Lee will call nine witnesses to the stand, including forensic investigators, the boy — who will testify behind closed doors — and his mother.

The teacher remains out on S$15,000 bail and is represented by defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya from Regent Law LLC.

The trial is set to continue until Thursday.

If convicted of molesting a minor, the teacher could be jailed up to five years, fined, caned, or receive any combination of the three punishments. Attempted molestation carries up to half of the punishment.

If convicted of causing hurt, he could be jailed up to two years or fined up to S$5,000, or both. 

Exhibiting an obscene object carries a maximum jail term of one year. Offenders can also be fined or receive both penalties.

The MOE spokesperson added: “MOE takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and discipline, including dismissal from service.”