A MOTHER noticed a love bite on her 13-year-old son’s neck.
When she asked him how he got it, he revealed that it was from a teacher at his primary school. The woman was more than three times his age – and seven years older than the mother.
Yesterday the 42-year-old teacher pleaded guilty to committing indecent acts on the youngster on a string of dates.
A district court heard how he would play truant to join her on trips to the movies, Sentosa and the Botanic Gardens.
They had met in early 2012 when the boy was in Primary 6. He was in the same football team as the teacher’s son, and she also taught Malay dance to his two sisters at the school – which is in the west of Singapore.
The boy and his sisters became friendly with the teacher and her four children, and he would also chat with her on Facebook.
One day in October that year, the lad set off for school in his uniform – but stopped to change, then met the woman for breakfast at McDonald’s at Nanyang Technological University.
After taking a bus to a nearby park, she kissed him on the lips and gave him a love bite on his shoulder.
They then went to see a movie at Clementi Mall before parting ways.
She kissed him again on a trip to the Botanic Gardens on Oct 31, and did the same again at Sentosa the following day, as well as giving him another love bite on his shoulder.
Two weeks later, they kissed and she bit his neck at the Botanic Gardens.
But the following day, his mother spotted the mark and the boy spilled the beans.
The parents informed the school and got their son to lodge a police report. The teacher was suspended, and charged in court.
She cannot be named as it could lead to the identification of the minor.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Santhra Aiyyasamy asked for an appropriate jail sentence yesterday.
The maximum penalty for such offences is a $10,000 fine and a five-year jail term.
She said the teacher had built a relationship with the pupil and taken advantage of him when he played truant.
“Sexual exploitation of such young victims is completely unacceptable,” she added.
Defence counsel Peter Fernando asked the court to consider placing the teacher on probation instead.
He said his client had been suffering from a major depressive disorder when she committed the offences, but she is now coping well with treatment.
The lawyer also said that his client, who had been teaching the Malay language for 11 years, was unlikely to break the law again.
Her husband and family members were in court and tried to console her after the hearing. She will be sentenced on Feb 19.
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