A 49-year-old former teacher from a “top school” in Singapore pleaded guilty on 28 February to showing explicit adult videos to his 17-year-old ex-student, according to The Straits Times.
He had heard that the student was hurting himself to cope with stress, and he introduced the adult videos to him as a form of coping mechanism to help him de-stress.
He is set to return to court on 28 March for his sentencing, and faces up to 1 year of imprisonment and/or a fine if he’s convicted.
Background
The teacher was tutoring the victim at the time of the offence, helping him with the subject “civics”.
He received an email from the student’s mother on 28 January 2021, who told him about her son struggling with his negative thoughts and emotions.
The teacher then reached out to the mother and told her that the boy was also falling behind in class, and he also went to speak to the boy personally.
The victim revealed to the teacher that he was hurting himself as a way to cope with his stress, and the teacher then gave his phone number to the boy and told him to save it under a different name, saying that it was because their conversation was “not exactly legit”.
The boy trust the teacher and told his mother that he was thankful to have an adult that he could trust (referring to the teacher), to speak to about his problems.
On 2 February 2021, the man gave the victim a self-help book and asked him why was he hurting himself, to which the boy said that he needed a coping mechanism.
The man then told the boy that males of his age only have 2 ways to de-stress, taking medication or “stimulating” themselves.
He then asked the boy if he had ever watched adult videos, and introduced him to some websites.
On 6 February 2021, the teacher invited the boy over to his home for dinner and before eating, he complained about the heat and asked the boy if he wanted to take off his shirt.
The boy then changed into a singlet that the teacher offered him, as the latter watched him change.
He then kept pressuring the boy to drink alcohol with him during dinner, as he shared his personal experiences with intercourse.
He soon got himself drunk and started crying, placing his hands on the boy’s arm and chest, and moving them around for about 10 minutes.
He also showed the victim 3 adult videos on his mobile phone.
The next day (7 February 2021) the boy told his mother about what happened, and she then immediately told the school about it as well as filed a police report.
The teacher then resigned from his job that same month.