A 19-year-old former religious teacher at a mosque pleaded guilty on Dec 16 to committing an indecent act with a 12-year-old girl he had taught, after a relationship developed following private contact outside religious lessons.
According to Straits Times, the offender, who cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victim’s identity, became the girl’s religious teacher in early 2025.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng told the court that he conducted three religious classes for the victim in a group setting involving five to six pupils.
After the lessons began, the offender obtained the contact details of all his students and created a group chat to share lesson notes.
Following one of the lessons, he spent time alone with the victim to “get to know her better” and bought her lunch and chocolates, the court heard.
When the girl returned home, she informed her mother about the incident. The mother subsequently complained to the mosque, saying the offender had behaved inappropriately by spending personal time with her daughter beyond the religious classes.
The mosque removed the offender from his teaching role, the report added.
Despite this, the offender and the girl continued communicating in secret and later entered into a romantic relationship.
On May 8, the offender met the victim at a multi-storey carpark, where he began kissing her.
Although the girl was initially unwilling, she eventually gave in to his advances. During the encounter, the offender groped her chest over her clothing.
Five days later, they met again at a staircase landing of a Housing Board block. The offender asked the child to perform oral sex, but she refused. She later performed another sexual act on him.
The relationship ended after other parties, who were not identified in court, discovered their involvement. The girl later told her mother about the sexual acts, and the woman lodged a police report on July 13.
On Dec 16, the offender pleaded guilty to one charge of committing an indecent act with a child.
The court called for reports to assess his suitability for probation and reformative training.
Offenders ordered to undergo reformative training are detained in a centre and subjected to a structured regime that may include discipline drills and counselling. The offender is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
Image via Google for illustration
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