Former principal who molested seven school boys jailed and caned
He targeted at-risk students who had family problems or disciplinary issues.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mark Yeo said when the former principal, 48, noticed a student, he would call the boy into his office to speak to him.
DPP Yeo said: "At times, the man would also inform the students' teachers of his intention to speak with them and fix a suitable time for them to meet him at his office on the pretext of discussing their disciplinary issues."
He would then molest the victims, who were aged between 13 and 15 then, in his office.
The man, who molested seven boys in his school, was jailed for 44 months and given seven strokes of the cane yesterday.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of molest, with eight other similar charges taken into consideration.
The man, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victims' identities, had molested his students between August and October 2017.
They were often called in by the operations manager to serve detention or to be informed of disciplinary action against them.
The offences came to light in October 2017, after one of the victims confided in another victim about what had happened.
They reported the matter to the operations manager after they realised the man had done similar things to them.
The Ministry of Education was informed and a police report was lodged in November 2017.
DIDN'T WANT TO BETRAY
One of the boys disclosed the abuse only during police investigations as he felt the principal had helped promote him to Secondary 2 despite his poor grades and did not want to betray him.
Yesterday, DPPs Yeo and Sruthi Bopanna asked for at least 48 months' jail and seven strokes of the cane, arguing that the man had flagrantly breached the trust placed in him. They said the victims were powerless to refuse his advances.
The prosecution said: "Further, the victims were particularly vulnerable to the accused as their disciplinary records made them less likely to be believed by other staff members of the school, and they would be afraid of resisting the accused for fear of being suspended or expelled from the school."
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