A former tuition teacher, who had sex with a 15-year-old male student, was jailed for 12 months

Ex-tuition teacher who had sex with 15-year-old boy sentenced to a year in jail

SINGAPORE: A former tuition teacher, who had sex with a 15-year-old male student, was jailed for 12 months on Thursday (May 26).

Liew Kin Wah, 46, was working at a tuition centre when he committed three offences of sexual penetration of a minor and one of indecent act with a child at his home in Woodlands on Feb 27 last year.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration; the remaining charges were taken into consideration in sentencing.

A district court heard that the schoolboy and Liew, now unemployed, came to know each other last year via a mobile chat application, "Scruff''.

After chatting for a while, the duo eventually decided to meet on Feb 27. They arranged to meet at Woodlands MRT station after the victim finished school.

They proceeded to Liew's home where the boy performed oral sex on Liew. Liew then went on to have anal sex with the boy.

Deputy public prosecutor Chee Ee Ling said the incident came to light when the boy's mother found out about her son's activities while looking through his mobile phone.

On May 20 last year,she took himto make a police report. The boy stated that he had had sex with several unknown males since 2013.

A senior consultant from the Institute of Mental Health said the boy was sexually attracted to both girls and boys upon reaching puberty. At the age of 13, he had a sexual relationship with a male. After they broke up, he got involved with four other males at different times.

The doctor felt that the boy was confused over his sexual identity and would benefit from psychological counselling to understand himself better and take steps to avoid being a victim of sexual assault again.

The prosecutor sought a jail term of 15 months for Liew while lawyer Amolat Singh said 12 months would suffice, as there were no special aggravating factors, and everything happened on one afternoon. The court agreed.

In his written mitigation plea, Amolat said his client, who has a degree in mathematics and management, was a primary school teacher for about 20 years before he joined the tuition agency. He left in May last year, and drove a taxi for about six months.

He said Liew was a very responsible and dedicated individual with good work ethics. He is remorseful and gives a solemn and sincere undertaking never again to get into any trouble, said Amolat. He also said Liew has totally stayed away from the chat website and other similar apps.

Liew could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each charge. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network