16 years’ jail and caning for ex-PE teacher who sexually exploited student in hotels, school

SINGAPORE – A former PE teacher at a secondary school who sexually exploited his student in hotel rooms and a school camp was sentenced to 16 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane on Sept 16.

The 45-year-old man had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor.

Another 12 charges for sexual offences against the same victim were considered during sentencing.

The incidents started in 2022, when the victim was 14 years old and the man was her physical education teacher.

He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim, who is now 18. 

In sentencing the man, High Court judge Kwek Mean Luck agreed with prosecutors that the offences were premeditated.

The judge noted that the man took steps to convince the victim to “hang out” in a hotel room, where he caressed her and hugged her to sleep.

After getting her comfortable being with him in a hotel room, the man made five more bookings for hotel rooms over the next three months.

“He exploited these opportunities alone with the victim to commit numerous sexual offences against her,” said Kwek.

The judge also agreed with the prosecution that the man tried to conceal his offences by entering and leaving the hotel rooms separately, among other ways.

In 2022, the man and the girl followed each other on Instagram. He also started chatting with her about books and writing, which she was passionate about.

At the time, he had 18 years of experience as a teacher.

They eventually moved their chat to Telegram, and he periodically instructed her to delete some messages.

Although they messaged each other frequently, they did not speak much in school.

In July that year, he confessed to her that he had romantic feelings for her, and repeatedly asked her to be his girlfriend.

He told her that a relationship between a teacher and a student was not a problem as long as it did not affect her studies.

When she voiced doubts about the 28-year age gap, he assured her that age was not an issue. 

At one point, he suggested that she go to his home, but she refused. He then suggested going to a hotel to read, watch TV or “hang out”.

On Aug 28, 2022, he booked a hotel room and arrived alone. He met her on the third floor to pass her a key card, and they entered the room separately.

They left the room separately after five hours.

The next day, she told him that she was willing to be in a relationship with him. Over time, she became convinced that it was acceptable for them to be in a romantic relationship.

The man called her “baby” and “princess”, and often talked to her about sex.

On Sept 11, 2022, they spent five hours in a hotel room, where he carried out various sex acts on her and repeatedly asked her to carry out a sex act on him until she agreed to do so.

He met her at hotels on four other occasions for sexual acts, once to celebrate his birthday and another time to celebrate her birthday in advance.

In January 2023, while she was taking part in a camp at school, he messaged her to meet him to engage in sexual acts.

Inside a room, he groped her and sexually violated her. They left the room after she became afraid of being found out.

Later that month, on Jan 29, the victim ended the relationship as she felt he was becoming very possessive. He was also jealous of her male friends and even talked about marrying her.

The man took the break-up badly. He cried and threatened to pull out all his hair. He tried to find out from her friend if she was dating anyone, and threatened to harm himself.

The friend reported the matter to a teacher on Feb 7 that year.

Confronted with the allegations, the man admitted that they engaged in heavy petting, but did not mention the sexually penetrative acts.

He also deleted the messages between him and the victim.

The school management informed the girl’s parents, who lodged a police report the next day, on Feb 9. During the investigation, the man admitted to the sexual acts.