Alleged victim accused of lying about sex abuse in school gym
Doctor's accounts of sharing a room with his then-vice-principal also a fabrication, says defence lawyer
The lawyer for a vice-principal accused of sexual offences claimed yesterday that no such acts could have taken place at the school gym as the alleged victim could not have entered it without a pass.
Mr T.M. Sinnadurai also accused the alleged victim of lying about having to share a room with the vice-principal, who was his guardian, when he lived in the latter's flat.
The alleged victim, who was from China and is now 29, made a police report against the vice-principal in 2015, accusing the older man of subjecting him to sexual acts when he was a primary schoo pupil here.
Earlier this week, he told the court that in 2003, the vice-principal, now 55, told him to go to the school gym where he committed a sexual act on him. But Mr Sinnadurai said this did not take place and that pupils could not enter the gym without a pass that only staff members were given.
When the alleged victim replied that the vice-principal had given him his pass, the lawyer said staff members were prohibited from doing this.
The younger man also testified earlier that the vice-principal committed sexual acts on him in his bedroom when he went to the latter's Woodlands flat for private tuition in 2004 while in Primary 6.
Mr Sinnadurai said that according to his client, the boy was not allowed to enter the bedroom as there were confidential work-related materials inside. He also said the boy had his own room when he lived in the flat from late 2004 until 2013. The younger man had earlier told the court that he shared the same bed as the vice-principal.
When the lawyer suggested that he had wrongly accused the vice-principal of making sexual advances in the flat, he replied: "I disagree."
Mr Sinnadurai also asked the alleged victim why he had not sought help from counsellors at the primary school if he was being sexually abused. He said: "I didn't feel comfortable to go for counselling at the school as (the vice-principal) was a respectable figure there. I doubt that the counsellors would believe me."
On Tuesday, he testified that, first, he had not wanted to inform the police about the case. He said he had treated the vice-principal's parents as his own grandparents and felt responsible towards them.
It was only after he tried to settle the issue with the vice-principal, who accused him of extortion, that he made the police report, he said. The trial resumes tomorrow.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
