A 46 year-old married father of two was sentenced to 11 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane yesterday. He was convicted in May of three counts of statutory rape and four counts of sexual exploitation.
Yesterday at his sentencing, Judge Lee Seiu Kin took into account that the girl was a willing party, however the accused had abused his position of trust as her martial arts coach. He could have been jailed for up to 20 years, fined, or caned on each count of statutory rape, or fined up to $5000 and jailed up to two years on each count of sexual exploitation.
Underage sex in Singapore: Background
The man, who cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity, was a martial arts instructor at the girl’s secondary school. They had an affair in 2007.
Jan: He met the girl when she joined the martial arts club.
Feb: He sent her a text message asking her to be his girlfriend; one week later they started petting.
Mar: They had sex for the first time.
May: Girl was taken to the temple to “solemnize” their “marriage”.
The girl confessed to school officials about their relationship upon confrontation and the discovery of romantic text messages on her mobile phone. The man insisted he often used such terms of endearment on girls and women when numerous romantic text messages were submitted as proof during his trial. He has now submitted his appeal and is out on bail pending appeal hearing.
While the Overall Crime figures for 2010 have fallen, there are three areas which the Police are concerned about. Outrage of Modesty cases is one of them. The other two being cheating cases involving rental and phone scams and Combating Youth Crimes.
According to the Singapore Police Force 2010 statistic report, there was an 11% INCREASE of Outrage of Modesty cases in 2010 - 1,414 reported cases to be exact. With more accounts of older persons abusing their powers to conduct sexual relationships with under-aged minors, how much should we parents entrust our children in the care of strangers such as these activities' instructors? Share your thoughts with us.
Source: The Straits Times