Jail for SCDF officer who had sexual relationship with 15-year-old girl he met in her CCA

Straits Times

2 days ago

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On July 31, the 33-year-old man was sentenced to 30 months' jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor below 16 years old.
SINGAPORE – A married SCDF officer has been jailed for
having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he met as an instructor involved in her co-curricular activity (CCA).
He was arrested after one of the girl's close friends told a teacher about the relationship.
On July 31, the 33-year-old man was sentenced to 30 months' jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor below 16 years old.
Seven other similar charges and one charge of possessing obscene films were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The man cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the girl's identity.
The court heard that the man was a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer posted to be a field instructor for the National Civil Defence Cadet Corps (NCDCC), a youth national uniformed group.
The girl was a member of her secondary school's NCDCC.
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He met the girl in June 2023 when he was the field instructor for the NCDCC's National Day Parade marching contingent.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheronne Lim said the girl developed a crush on the man and would find opportunities to interact with him, including waiting for him at MRT stations on his route home.
She also confessed her feelings to the man multiple times, describing him as a 'role model' and 'motivator' whom she looked up to.
The man initially rejected her flirtatious messages and attempts to ask him out, but later developed romantic feelings for her and reciprocated her interest.
By September 2023, they were texting and talking every day. In November that year, they went out on a date and held hands. The girl told him she loved him.
Subsequently, the girl confided in him that she had been sexually assaulted by a relative in the past. He later passed her an alarm and a siren.
'The accused told the victim that he wanted to take care of the ones he loves. He also hugged the victim,' said DPP Lim.
During her school holidays in December 2023, the man took leave and invited the girl to his home while his wife was at work.
While watching movies at his home, they engaged in sexual acts for the first time.
They engaged in such acts on 10 occasions in total between December 2023 and April 2024, including in a car at a multi-storey carpark.
The girl told her close friends about the sexual relationship. The friends also saw sexually explicit messages and photos between the pair.
Feeling that the relationship was inappropriate, one of her friends informed the CCA's teacher-in-charge, who then filed a police report.
After his arrest, the man initially denied being in a relationship with the victim but subsequently confessed.
In the man's mitigation plea, Ms Noelle Teoh from Gloria James-Civetta & Co asked the court to consider her client's psychological and emotional state at the time of the offences.
A psychiatrist who assessed the man said his unhappiness in his marriage and the emergence of a 'damsel in distress' led him to lose his self-control and sound judgment.
His wife noted that he was vulnerable to being a 'rescuer' whenever others solicited his help, said the psychiatrist's report.
Noting that her client regrets his lapse of judgment, Ms Teoh said: '(He) accepts that, given his greater age and life experience, he ought to have exercised sounder judgment and maintained proper boundaries between himself and the victim.'
The man and his wife attended marriage counselling sessions after the incident, and his wife has expressed her willingness to forgive him, said the lawyer.
Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng said that as the girl's instructor, the man was in a position of trust to guide and lead her.
Nevertheless, she said: 'I accept that he did not seek her out, nor manipulate her into having a sexual relationship with him.'
An SCDF spokesman told The Straits Times previously that it had removed the man from field-related duties and placed him in an administrative post once it was informed that police investigations into him were ongoing.
The man had been suspended on half pay since April 20, 2024, added the spokesman.
The spokesman said on July 31 that following his conviction, the man will face public service disciplinary action, and will be liable for punishments including dismissal from service.
He added: 'SCDF takes a very serious view of the commission of any offence by its officers. SCDF expects all our officers to always uphold exemplary standards of professionalism, conduct and discipline.'
Clarification note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that the man was the girl's CCA instructor. This story has since been amended to reflect that he was not her CCA instructor, but a field instructor for the NCDCC, which was the girl's CCA.