Music teacher who molested cello student while correcting her posture jailed
SINGAPORE — A music school teacher who molested his student under the pretence of adjusting her posture while playing the cello was sentenced to one year and nine months’ jail and one stroke of the cane on Wednesday (8 May).
The 33-year-old Filipino had earlier been found guilty of four counts of molesting the then-18-year-old student while they were alone in a classroom on two occasions in 2016.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, intends to appeal the court’s decision, said his lawyer Jonathan Cho.
‘Serious abuse of trust’
In seeking a 21-month jail for the man, Deputy Public Prosecutor Marshall Lim described the man’s actions as a “serious abuse of trust”.
“The (man) was the (teen’s) music teacher who taught her in a private one-to-one session,” he said. “The setting would be one in which the teen would naturally and ordinarily trust in the professionalism of the (man).”
The prosecutor pointed out that the teen’s initial reaction to the man had demonstrated the amount of trust she had. She had believed the first touch was “accidental” or was part of the teaching process.
Following the incident, the victim suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder with depressed mood, noted the DPP.
Under the guise of correcting cello placement
According to the prosecution, the music teacher first molested the teen on 25 June 2016, towards the end of her cello class.
Under the guise of correcting the cello’s placement on her body, the man let the cello lean on his hand and touched the student’s chest for about a minute. Although the girl found the action weird, she believed it was part of the teaching process and returned to class the next week.
On 2 July 2016, the teacher helped the student to tune her cello and asked her to play a tune.
He then corrected her on the proper handling of the cello instrument, placing his hand between the cello and her chest area. However his hands then slipped under her shirt and bra.
Later, the teacher asked the student to sit on the same chair as him, in between his legs, before touching her right inner thigh.
Again, the teacher molested the student underneath her bra, before asking her if he could unhook the bra. When she asked why he wanted to do that, he said “never mind” and went back to his own chair.
On the pretext of going to the toilet, the student excused herself and left the classroom. When she returned to the classroom, the teacher once more placed his hand on her chest.
Denial of offences during trial
The teacher, who is no longer with the school, denied the offences during his trial. He claimed that there was no reason for him to touch or get close to the student during the lesson, as they were only pursuing topics in which verbal instructions were enough.
He argued that he conducted the lesson while facing the student, and that the chair was too small to accommodate two persons. He also denied asking the student if he could unhook her bra.
As part of the defence, the man also pointed out that there was a glass panel on every door which allowed people to look in on the lesson.
The teacher could have been jailed up to two years’ jail, fined and/or caned, on each of his four charges. He has been placed on $20,000 bail pending his appeal.
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Music teacher molests student while correcting her cello position
