Singaporean teacher jailed for sex with student

SINGAPORE – A 32-year-old female Singaporean teacher was sentenced to a year in jail on Monday, October 29, for having sex with a 15-year-old boy in her school, local media reported.

The teacher, who was married with two children, started a relationship with the student last year after she started counselling him, the Straits Times daily reported on its website.

Their names were withheld to protect the minor’s identity.

The court was told that she wooed the boy with gifts including a copy of the bestselling book “Eat, Pray, Love,” which dealt with a divorced American woman’s adventures and was made into a film starring Julia Roberts in 2010.

The two continued their relationship for more than a month, during which they had consensual sex at the teacher’s flat before the student’s parents found out about the affair and reported her to the school.

In passing sentence, district judge Eugene Teo warned those who viewed schools “as acceptable venues for such illicit pursuits, and our students as acceptable partners in lust” will be punished, the Straits Times reported.

Another news portal, channelnewsasia.com, said the judge noted that psychiatrists found “no predatory paedophilic tendencies” in the teacher, which led to the comparatively light sentence.

Under Singapore law, an adult found guilty of engaging sexual intercourse with anyone under the age of 16 — even if it’s consensual — faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine or both. – Agence France-Presse