Teacher allegedly molested girl at primary school in 2015, was suspended since April 2021

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Nov 1, 2022

A male primary school teacher allegedly molested a girl who was around seven years old at his workplace in 2015.

The man, who is now 54, was charged with molestation in a district court on Oct 28, and his case has been adjourned to Nov 11.

He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the girl’s identity.

In a statement to The Straits Times on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the man had been suspended from duty since April 2021 and is no longer teaching in any school. 

Its spokesman said: “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.”

The man had allegedly used his hand to touch the girl’s private parts over her skirt when they were at the school in 2015.

Court documents did not disclose if she was a pupil there at the time.

For molesting a child below 14 years old, an offender can be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned, or receive any combination of such punishments.

The man cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old.