Dance instructor jailed for indecent acts
He abused teen student, who later suffered post-traumatic stress disorder
As a boy, he was sexually abused by his dance instructor but was too embarrassed to report it to the police.
Years later, this came back to haunt him through flashbacks and nightmares during national service. He was then diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
On Monday, the accused, now 38, was jailed for a year after pleading guilty to one count of sexual exploitation under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA).
District Judge Tan Jen Tse said the serious nature of the crime meant a stiff sentence had to be meted out despite the accused's show of remorse.
A second CYPA charge was taken into consideration.
Both parties cannot be named to protect the victim's identity.
The victim first knew the accused, who taught Malay dance at his school, when he was in Primary 4 and later joined the man's classes on Saturdays.
By the time he was 15, the victim looked up to the accused as an older brother.
The culprit would invite the victim to his flat in northern Singapore to play video games.
On one such occasion in 2013, he told the boy to go into his bedroom and close the door. The victim, who did not think much of it as they were close, sat beside the accused, hugging him when asked to do so.
The accused then began to touch the boy inappropriately, hugging and kissing him, and told him to strip naked. The victim refused but the accused threatened to stop going out with him. Scared and confused, he complied. The accused, who also stripped naked, then performed several indecent acts on the boy.
Calling the acts a grave intrusion, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Gregory Gan said the exploitation was persistent and continuous.
The victim was lost and confused after the abuse. He distanced himself from the man and quit the dance class.
It was only after he went for psychiatric assessment at the Institute of Mental Health while in the army, that a police report was made.
DPP Gan wrote in his submission: "The stiff sentence is necessary to send an unequivocal message to like-minded people that the accused's reprehensible conduct will be severely dealt with."
The accused, who was unrepresented, said he was regretful. Stammering at times, he added: "I'm sorry for what I did."
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