SHE was a teacher in his primary school, and it was during an
overseas trip which she led that trouble began.
While on that trip, the married teacher and her young charge,
then 14 and in Primary 6, struck up a friendship.
They kept it up after the trip, and stayed in touch with each
other through frequent phone calls and SMS texting.
The friendship continued developing, and before long, the woman
declared the boy her godson and began showering him with care and
attention.
Even after he left the school to go on to Secondary 1, they
continued to meet, going window shopping, watching movies and
having meals together.
Before long, the boy told the woman that he had fallen for her,
and she responded by saying that she would be his girlfriend.
She then began booking rooms at a Pasir Ris chalet to spend
private time with him, and he was 15 when they eventually wound up
having sex.
Yesterday, in the first case of its kind here, the mother of two
young children who is in her early thirties pleaded guilty to
having sex with an underage boy.
The court heard that after the first encounter, the pair had sex
five more times, either at the chalet or at her home.
Then the woman decided to end the liaison, and that eventually
led to the exposure of the illicit affair: Angered by her move, the
boy threatened to kill her and her family, and she went to the
police and spilled the beans.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Royce Wee told the court yesterday that
the woman had agreed to be the boy's girlfriend after he confessed
his feelings for her.
The DPP said the two first discussed having sex at the Pasir Ris
chalet, and the woman asked the boy to buy condoms.
When he said he was too young to do so, she bought them and they
had sex for the first time last March 10.
But after a few more sex sessions over the following weeks, she
began to feel that the boy had become 'overly possessive and
temperamental', the DPP said.
She felt that she could not manage him, and began to regret
their relationship.
But when she tried to end the affair, he refused.
When she insisted and began to ignore his calls and text
messages, he threatened to kill her and her family members.
Afraid of what might happen, she decided to come clean. She
confided in a school counsellor on May 15 and lodged a police
report the next day, owning up to her crime.
Pleading for leniency, Senior Counsel Sant Singh said his
client, now unemployed, faced considerable pressure at work and at
home when she had sex with the boy.
He said her husband worked long hours and his grassroots
activities kept him away from home.
Mr Singh pointed out that it was his client who wanted to end
the relationship as she realised that it was inappropriate.
He said she was deeply remorseful and was now suffering from
depression.
The slim, bespectacled woman was seen wiping away tears with a
piece of tissue paper while her lawyer delivered her mitigation
plea.
Mr Singh said her chances of working in any school after her
conviction would be almost zero, and it was unlikely that she would
offend again.
'Her reputation and family life has been ruined by her
wrongdoing, and she has been forced to give up her career as a
teacher, a profession in which she has excelled,' he said.
DPP Amarjit Singh urged the court to impose an appropriate
sentence.
He said the new law - Section 376A(1) and (2) - did not
distinguish between male and female accused.
'The sentence prescribed applies to both,' he added.
He told the court that since it was enacted a year ago, two men
had been sentenced separately to 16 months and 15 months for
similar offences.
District Judge Sarjit Singh will pass sentence on Feb 23.
THE provision under which the woman was charged is relatively
new. Only two cases have been dealt with since the new law was
passed by Parliament last February.
Both cases involved men who had sex with underage girls, and the
offenders were given 16 and 15 months' jail, respectively.
Before the new law was adopted, the accused would have been
charged under the Children and Young Persons Act, which subscribes
lesser penalties.
The new provision, Section 376A, was introduced to make oral and
anal sex, whether consensual or non-consensual, with a minor under
16 an offence. It carries a jail term of up to 10 years, or a fine,
or both.
In his speech last year during the parliamentary debate on the
new law, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs,
Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, said that while there was some
overlap with the Women's Charter and the Children and Young Persons
Act, the Government believed the change would provide the
prosecution with greater powers in deciding on the appropriate
charge based on the circumstances.