54 days' jail for male ex-teacher who showed porn on phone to student and watched him change clothes

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
July 7, 2023

A former teacher from one of Singapore’s top schools was sentenced on Friday to 54 days’ jail after he showed a male student, who was then 17, pornographic videos.

The 49-year-old, who resigned from his job in February 2021, committed the offence after he heard that the teenager was engaging in self-harm to cope with stress.

He made a suggestion for the student to sexually stimulate himself instead.

The man, who pleaded guilty in March to one count of showing sexual videos to the teen, cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim who is now 19.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon told the court that the man had taught for over 22 years. He was the teenager’s form teacher at the time of the offence. He was also his civics tutor.

On Jan 28, 2021, the victim’s mother e-mailed the offender, telling him that her son had thoughts of skipping school as he felt ostracised and had no purpose in life.

The man called her, saying he had been intending to speak to her son as he was falling behind in schoolwork.

When approached, the boy told him that he had been having negative thoughts and that he had engaged in self-harm to cope with his emotions.

After they talked for an hour, the man gave his personal telephone number to the boy and asked him to save it under a different name as their conversation was “not exactly legit”.

He told the boy to contact him if he needed someone to talk to.

When the boy returned home that day, he told his mother that his teacher had spoken to him and expressed his surprise and gratitude that an adult could understand him so well.

On Feb 2, 2021, the man gave the boy a self-help book and asked why he needed to self-harm.

When the boy said he needed a coping mechanism for his emotions, the man said “males of this age have only two ways to destress: medication and (stimulating oneself)”.

The boy felt uncomfortable but the man pressed on, asking if he had watched pornography. He also showed the boy links to pornographic websites on his mobile phone and clicked on one.

The pair met for dinner at the man’s house four days later.

Before eating, the man said the weather was hot and asked the victim if he wanted to remove his T-shirt and offered him a singlet. The man looked on when the teenager changed his top.

The man talked about his sexual experiences during dinner and pressured the boy to drink alcohol.

DPP Poon told the court: “The accused drank more than the victim and began to cry. He placed his hands on the victim’s arm and chest, moving them around for about 10 minutes.”

After that, he showed the boy three pornographic videos on his mobile phone.

The next day, the boy told his mother about what the man had done. The school was informed and the vice-principal alerted the police.

The man’s bail was set at $10,000 on Friday and he is expected to surrender at the State Courts on July 17 to begin serving his sentence.