Married SCDF officer in his 30s has sex multiple times with student, 15, gets 30 months' jail

A married Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer posted as a field instructor at the National Civil Defence Cadet Corps (NCDCC) got into a months-long romantic relationship with a 15-year-old student cadet.

After the pair started calling and texting from August 2023, things got sexual between them in December 2023.

The man, who was in his 30s, arranged for the girl to go over to his home when his wife was not around to have sex, and also engaged in similar acts with her in his car at a multi-storey car park in Clementi.

He was sentenced to 30 months' jail on Jul. 31 after pleading guilty to three counts of sexually penetrating a minor.

The man's name, address and other identifying details have been redacted from court documents due to a gag order to protect the girl's identity.

Both caught feelings

Court documents seen by Mothership indicated that the man had served as the girl's field instructor for NCDCC's National Day Parade (NDP) marching contingent in June 2023.

She soon developed a crush on him and found opportunities to interact with him, such as taking photos with him at NDP rehearsals, messaging him on social media or meeting him at MRT stations on his route home.

The girl also confessed her feelings to the man multiple times, sent him flirtatious messages and tried asking him out.

Prosecutors said the victim described the man as a "role model" and "motivator" whom she looked up to.

The man initially rejected the girl's advances.

However, they continued to exchange personal messages on social media from August 2023.

By September 2023, the two were texting and talking on a daily basis.

They subsequently started talking about sex over the phone.

The two went out for a date in November 2023 and held hands, with the girl telling the man that she loved him.

That same month, she confided in him that she had previously been sexually assaulted by a relative.

Subsequently, the man met up with her to pass her an alarm and a siren, and told her he wanted to take care of his loved ones. He also hugged her.

By December 2023, the man had developed feelings for the girl.

Started having sex in secret

On Dec. 20, 2023, during her school holidays, the man took leave so he could meet the girl at his residence.

He knew his wife would be at work and no one else was at home.

While watching movies, they hugged and kissed and he performed sex acts on her for the first time.

On Mar. 6, 2024, the girl went over to his house again and the two had sex.

The two engaged in sexual activities on 10 occasions in total from Dec. 20, 2023 to Apr. 5, 2024.

On one such occasion in April 2024, the man picked the girl up from her home and they had sex in the car at a multi-storey car park at Block 440C Clementi Avenue 3.

The man did not wear a condom on many of the occasions, prosecutors said.

Friend reported to school teacher

During the course of their relationship, the two created new Instagram accounts to message each other, and also used the disappearing message function when texting.

The girl, however, told her close friends that she was in a sexual relationship with the man.

After her friends came across sexually explicit messages and photos exchanged by the two, they felt the relationship was inappropriate given the man's age, his position as NCDCC instructor and the fact that he was married.

On Apr. 5, 2024, one of the girl's friends heard from the girl that the man was driving her to school.

The same day, the friend decided to approach the NCDCC teacher-in-charge at their school regarding the relationship.

Three days later, the teacher made a police report about the inappropriate relationship between the man and the girl.

The man was arrested on Apr. 11, 2024.

Initially, the man denied being in a relationship with the girl, but subsequently confessed in the course of investigations.

In May 2024, he breached the conditions of his bail by contacting the victim.

Prosecutors said he was concerned she might engage in self-harm, so he messaged her for a day.

Subsequently, the man admitted to police that he had contacted the victim.

He held position of trust as CCA instructor: Judge

The man pleaded guilty to three counts of sexually penetrating a minor.

Seven similar charges and one charge of possessing obscene films were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The prosecution asked for a sentence of 30 to 36 months' imprisonment for the man, noting that as a married adult in his 30s who knew the victim was infatuated with him, he "ought to have distanced himself from the victim" instead of reciprocating her advances.

Prosecutors also argued that the man "knew his relationship with the victim was inappropriate", evidenced by the steps he took to evade detection of their relationship.

Nevertheless, prosecutors acknowledged that the man had not abused his position as instructor to get sex acts from her, and noted that the victim was close to 16 years old and had initiated the romantic relationship with the man.

In mitigation, the man's defence lawyer said a psychiatrist found that the man was unhappy in his marriage, and assessed that the emergence of a "damsel in distress" could have clouded his judgment, according to The Straits Times.

The lawyer added that the man regrets his lapse of judgment, and accepts that he ought to have "maintained proper boundaries between himself and the victim".

The lawyer also noted that the man and his wife have gone for marriage counselling, and she has expressed her willingness to forgive him.

In sentencing, the judge said that as the minor's CCA instructor, the man held a position of trust and was expected to guide and lead her.

But the judge also accepted that he "did not seek her out, nor manipulate her into having a sexual relationship with him”, as quoted by ST.

The man was sentenced to 30 months' jail with effect from Apr. 11, 2024.

Previously, SCDF said in response to Mothership's queries that the man was removed from field-related duties and placed in an administrative post once SCDF was informed that the police were investigating him.

The officer has also been interdicted on half-pay since Apr. 20, 2024.

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