WE FIRST EXPOSED HIM AS A MATCHMAKER WITH A SLEAZY TWIST. BUT
THIS SINGAPORE ENGLISH TEACHER'S PAST IS EVEN DARKER THAN
IMAGINED
By Fawziah Selamat
HE first made the news here for his 'matchmaking' website featuring
Asian women, some of them naked. Well, there's more shocking news
in store.
American Jack West is a convicted paedophile who has had contact
with children while teaching in Singapore.
The New Paper on Sunday discovered this after receiving a tip-off
from Singapore permanent resident Matthew Farr, who had met West in
1999. Checks with the US authorities showed West has had a crime
sheet since the 1970s. In 1998, he was jailed for two years for
sexual offences against his own son, who was 7 at the time. West
was originally charged with raping his son in 1990, but did not
stand trial as he had left for Indonesia in 1989. In 1997, he
returned to the US and pleaded guilty to four reduced charges of
sexual battery.
Released in 1999, he came to Singapore, claiming to have
qualifications to teach English. How did a convicted paedophile
manage to get an employment pass to work here?
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is now investigating. Foreigners
applying for an employment pass (EP) must declare whether they have
been convicted in a court of law in any country. West's employment
pass is valid till next February. It is not known yet if West, now
58, lied in his application form. If so, he can be charged and have
his EP revoked. Lawyer Amolat Singh said that anyone found guilty
of making false declarations could be looking at jail time.
West first appeared in The New Paper on Sunday two weeks ago in a
report about his website that introduces Asian women to 'American
gentlemen'. He described the women as 'meat in a butcher shop' and
his site features sexually explicit content, but West defended
himself as a 'legitimate businessman'.
Checks confirmed he was the same Jack West convicted in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Mostly self-employed, West registered a business under the
name JGW Consultancy in 2001. This includes his introduction
service, a sideline to his primary business of teaching
English.
In his resume, West claims to be certified by the Education
Ministry (MOE) to teach English at all levels. An MOE spokesman
clarified that West was registered with MOE to teach English only
in private schools.
One school that hired him, but did not register his application
with MOE, was Maxwell School of Languages. Maxwell's supervisor, Mr
Christopher Yeh, 39, remembers employing West for a period of four
to six months. He said the school had students as young as 8 when
West was teaching there. West's contract was not renewed after a
complaint by another teacher.
Canadian Kathy Farr, 58, now retired, taught at the school in 2001.
'I can't explain it but he made me uncomfortable,' said Mrs Farr.
Her discomfort led her to tell her son, Mr Matthew Farr, about
West. The trader, 35, had met West in 1999 when West unsuccessfully
applied to another language school, Berlitz Singapore. Mr Farr did
a search on the Internet and discovered an article on West in the
Cincinnati Post detailing his criminal history. He also found
West's website featuring Asian women. Said Mr Farr: 'When my mother
told me he was working at Maxwell, I told her what I had found
out.'
As a result of Mrs Farr's complaint, the school did not renew
West's contract. Mr Yeh does not remember how long that was after
the complaint. Asked why the school did not confront West
immediately, Mr Yeh said he did not want to alarm the
students.
