S’pore Ex-Math Teacher Has Sexual Relationship With 14-Year-Old Girl, Gets 5 Years’ Jail

International School Teacher Gets Into Sexual Relationship With 14-Year-Old Girl

While working in an international school in 2019, a 26-year-old math teacher asked his 14-year-old international student to be his girlfriend.

They then began a sexual relationship, and he told her to keep quiet about it as it would harm her reputation.

On Monday (5 Sep), the now 29-year-old was sentenced to five years’ jail.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual penetration of a minor. Another two charges were taken into consideration.

Names of the teacher, student, and school in question cannot be revealed due to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity.

Teacher asked student to be his girlfriend

According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the teacher, a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR), worked at an international school. That’s where he met the then 14-year-old student, who had just arrived in Singapore in Feb 2019 for her studies.

The teacher taught her mathematics. When she approached him about her schoolwork, they exchanged WeChat contact details. As they began chatting frequently, the girl confided in him about her troubles as a new international student.

In Apr 2019, the teacher invited her and her friend, a 20-year-old student who was a China national, to his home for lunch.

TODAY reports that before her friend arrived, the teacher hugged and kissed the girl on her face.

As the trio watched a movie, the teacher put his arm around the girl. When she left the teacher’s house that day, he asked her to be his girlfriend. The girl agreed.

At that time, she thought it would be good to have a teacher care for her. The 14-year-old had also told him he was her first boyfriend.

Told girl to keep quiet about relationship

Following that, the teacher and the girl would kiss in school when no one was around.

Over the next two months, they had sex in the teacher’s home on four occasions. CNA stated that the teacher had told her that engaging in sex was natural for couples.

Knowing she was underage, the teacher also asked her not to tell anyone about their relationship. He claimed it would “ruin her reputation” and that it would be “terrible” if her parents found out.

He was also worried about losing his job. Because she trusted him, the teenager kept the relationship to herself.

During their relationship, the teacher gave the girl contraceptive pills twice.

The pair later broke up on 14 Jun 2019 after the girl told the teacher she planned to transfer schools. The teacher’s employment at the school also came to an end.

He initiated the breakup as they would not be able to meet regularly.

Teacher arrested in Sep 2019

The girl later confided in her 20-year-old friend – the same one who had gone to the teacher’s house for lunch – that she had just broken up with someone.

She revealed that she had been in a relationship with the math teacher, and they had engaged in sexual activities.

The friend was irate that the teacher had taken advantage of her and took her to confront the teacher. However, the teacher managed to persuade the girl not to lodge a police report on the basis of her reputation being harmed.

Eventually, things came to light when the girl returned home to China in Jul 2019 and told her mother she had had sex with her teacher.

Furious, her mother contacted the girl’s guardian in Singapore.

When the girl returned to Singapore, her guardian helped her lodge a police report against the teacher, reported CNA.

At the time, the teacher had been in his home country. When he arrived in Singapore in September, he was arrested at Changi Airport.

Judge says teacher took advantage of girl

The Institute of Mental Health’s Child Guidance Clinic reported that the victim was “sad, angry, and fearful” since engaging in sexual activities with the teacher.

She had also become fearful of males and had difficulty trusting others. This could lead to difficulties in her social interactions in future.

In court, the judge said that although the girl was a willing participant in the relationship, she was still vulnerable.

Furthermore, the teacher was entrusted with the “solemn responsibility” of educating the victim.

He elaborated that society expects teachers not to take advantage of the “youthfulness, immaturity and relative lack of experience of those placed in their care”.