Teacher used school as hunting ground, preying on young boys

A secondary school teacher turned his school into his hunting ground, preying on four boys to satisfy his sexual needs.

He would lure them to his home with pornography, money or console games.

The married man enticed three boys in just over a year, performing sex acts on two of them.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims, was found out after he failed to entice his fourth victim, who made a police report.

The ex-teacher was jailed for 6½ years yesterday.

His hunt began in May 2016.

His first victim, who was in Secondary 2, was in detention for circulating pornography to his class WhatsApp group.

Instead of telling the boy off, the teacher invited him to his flat to watch porn together.

On May 10 that year, the student went to the teacher's flat.

The teacher told the boy to perform a sex act in front of him.

As the boy was performing the sex act, the man then performed a sex act on him.

The teacher gave the boy $50 and he left.

They had several other sexual encounters for more than a year after, during which they would watch porn together and perform sex acts on each other.

The teacher also paid the student about $100 each time.

Their last sexual encounter with each other was in end August 2017. The boy would remind him he would tell a teacher about their activities if he did not pay him as agreed.

In July 2016, the teacher invited another student to his home to play console games.

But while they were playing, the teacher lifted the student onto his lap and started thrusting against the boy, who felt uncomfortable and stood up after that.

THIRD BOY

In July 2017, the teacher targeted a third boy, whom he brought to the flat after school.

They performed sex acts on each other on two occasions.

On Aug 29, the teacher tried to prey on his fourth victim, asking if he wanted to go to his home. When the boy refused, he poked his buttocks five times.

The boy left as he was scared.

The teacher continued to pester him after school, asking him to go to his flat, but the boy refused.

His parents took him to lodge a police report on Sept 1.

The teacher admitted he invited the boy to his home because he wanted to touch and perform a sex act on him.

He was diagnosed with paedophilia on Oct 5, 2017.

In the dock yesterday, the man kept his eyes closed as the statement of facts was read.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Amanda Han said the man had exploited his position of authority, taking advantage of school time to prey on the boys, and asked for a sentence of 61/2 years.

In mitigation, the man's lawyer, Mr Chua Eng Hui, said he was remorseful, and pointed out that two of the victims were not pressured or coerced into performing the sex acts.

He asked for a maximum jail term of six years.

However, the DPP said consent was irrelevant as the victims were underaged.

The teacher admitted to nine charges of sexually exploiting the boys, sexual penetration of a minor and molest.

Another 19 similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing, while 10 charges were withdrawn.