Updated: 09/05/2013 14:57 | By Channel NewsAsia
Teacher jailed 18 months for sexual offences involving minor
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SINGAPORE: A music teacher was on Thursday sentenced to 18 months' jail by a district court for sexual offences involving a minor.
James Rohan Fernando, 25, pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual penetration of a minor -- penetrating her with his finger, making her perform oral sex on him, as well as having sex with her.
Three other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The girl, who cannot be named, was about 14 years old at the time of the offences -- which took place between December 2011 and March 2012.
The court heard that the pair became acquainted through Facebook sometime in 2010, when the girl was 13 years old.
She had accepted his friendly request through Facebook as she badly needed someone to talk to.
The girl had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a child, and had difficulty making friends, and sustaining friendships. The pair then began chatting regularly, and exchanged mobile phone numbers.
Investigations revealed that Fernando then began sending the girl sexually-explicit text messages, even though she had told him she was only 13 years old. The girl then became very attached to Fernando.
They met only on three occasions, which were when the sex acts took place.
After the first occasion, the girl told Fernando that they should not engage in any sexual acts if they met again. When Fernando heard that, he told her that he did not want to meet her anymore. The girl then relented as she felt she was in a relationship with the accused.
The court heard that the offences took place at either the staircase landing of a HDB block or at a multi-storey carpark.
The offences came to light when the girl's mother made a police report after checking her daughter's mobile phone and discovering sexually-explicit text messages.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Stella Tan pointed out that an aggravating factor in this case was the girl's youth -- and that Fernando was 22 years old and an adult when he first contacted her.
In mitigation, Fernando's lawyer said that his client was remorseful about what he had done, and had not been aware of the girl's autism spectrum disorder.
Fernando could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined. - CNA/ac
