SINGAPORE: An art teacher was sentenced to 22 months' jail on Wednesday (Oct 3) for molesting a secondary school student thrice in 2016.
The 38-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, had claimed trial to three charges of outrage of modesty that were committed on the same day.
AdvertisementHe had squeezed the boy's chest on Feb 17, 2016, in the art room, before touching his buttock and his groin.
The man taught art to students in Secondary 2, 3 and 4 and was the art teacher of the victim, who was 13 at the time.
He was found guilty in July this year by District Judge John Ng who said he had "no doubt based on the totality of the evidence before me" that the accused was guilty.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michael Quilindo asked for a jail term of between 28 and 32 months, along with three strokes of the cane.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHe said the accused had abused his position of trust as the victim's art teacher.
"Members of honourable professions are presumed to be upstanding in their conduct, and when they engage in behaviour that breaches this confidence in them, this casts the rest of the profession in a negative light," he said.
"Instead of cultivating and nurturing the victim’s passion for art, the accused destroyed the victim’s love for the subject."
DEFENCE URGES COURT NOT TO IMPOSE CANING
The man's defence lawyer, Mr Shashi Nathan, asked for a sentence of between 15 and 18 months' jail.
He urged the court not to impose caning, as he said the prosecution's sentencing position was "extremely harsh" and "not commensurate with what happened".
"I will concede that my client being a teacher was in a position of trust. That is an aggravating factor but it's not an aggravating factor that over-arches the entire case," he said.
"Yes there was error on his part. But the touches were not prolonged; they were momentary, and there was no skin-to-skin contact."
He added that the accused was a good teacher and that the case meant the end of his career.
After hearing from both sides, District Judge John Ng sentenced the accused to 22 months' jail.
He noted that the principal and vice-principal of the school he taught at held him in "high esteem" as a teacher.
"I'm fairly confident that (the sentence) is enough to express our society's and our community's strong views against your conduct," the judge said.
The accused intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.
The Ministry of Education said the teacher was suspended from duty in February 2016, and that "anyone convicted of a serious crime will no longer be accepted in our schools".
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...