Singapore court jails tutor for molesting students, secretly filming 951 lewd videos in public and at home
SINGAPORE, June 18 — A private tutor was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail yesterday for committing obscene acts behind his female students, secretly filming them and engaging in lewd acts in public.
Michael Martin Lee Teck Heng, 58, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including one count of committing an obscene act, one count of making obscene films, three counts of molest and one count of aggravated molest, according to CNA.
Ten additional charges related to the same incidents were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Lim said the accused was 'clearly one who has no qualms violating young women for his sexual perversion'.
'Further, the offences committed by the accused against his tutees are difficult to detect and were committed by the accused in his capacity as a tutor, and as someone in a position of authority over them. Both specific and general deterrence comes to the fore,' Lim said.
His crimes were uncovered after he was caught engaging in indecent exposure in a public place.
Lee gave one-on-one mathematics and science tuition to primary and secondary school students in his home.
He disguised his actions by placing his hand on the back or shoulder of his students while committing the indecent acts.
The victims were unaware of Lee's actions, but a 15-year-old girl sensed something was wrong and felt uneasy about his close proximity.
She suspected the nature of his actions but hesitated to confront him, fearing she might be misinterpreting the situation due to her perception of him as religious.
She also feared that, being alone with him, he might escalate his actions.
The youngest victim, who was only 13 years old at the time he committed the offences, was unaware that he took videos of her.
In May 2019, Lee started to take videos of himself committing sexual acts in public behind or at a distance from unsuspecting women.
Lee was arrested on September 30, 2019, after a woman saw him exposing himself at a bus stop and alerted the police.
Police officers checked his mobile phone and discovered videos of Lee committing sexual acts, leading to his arrest.
During investigations, police officers raided his home and found at least 951 videos recorded by Lee, including 406 showing him exposing himself or making inappropriate physical contact with his students.
An additional 545 videos depicted Lee engaging in lewd acts in public.
Lim emphasised the need for public protection, highlighting the extensive number of incidents in which Lee had exposed himself in public while women were present.
'Taken together, the offences cumulatively show that the accused is a menace and a threat to the community. A lengthy sentence is called for to protect the community,' she added.
Lee's defence lawyer Joyce Khoo argued in mitigation that he had been diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses since 1997 and was suffering from exhibitionistic disorder at the time of the offenses.
She presented four medical reports from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), dating back to 1997, to support her claim. Lee had been receiving treatment for adjustment disorder since 1997.
The prosecutor, however, said that the disorder was a 'nothing more than a psychiatric label to describe a perverse behaviour'.
The judge ruled that his condition did not impair his ability to exercise self-control and gave no mitigating weight to Lee's mental condition.
The court found that Lee had abused the trust of his students, who were vulnerable victims.
A gag order prohibits the publication of the victims' identities and the location of the offenses to protect their privacy.
* If you are experiencing sexual violence, the following hotlines offer free and confidential support: Talian Kasih at 15999 or WhatsApp 019-2615999 (24/7); All Women's Action Society at 016-2374221/016-2284221 (9.30am-5.30pm); and Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) at 03-30008858 or SMS/WhatsApp TINA 018-9888058 (24/7)
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