SINGAPORE, Nov 2 — Frustrated by his eight-year-old student’s inability to answer his questions correctly, a mathematics tutor lost his cool and punched the girl after scolding her.
Today, Teo Thian Hoe, 56, was sentenced by a district court to four days’ jail, which he will begin serving on November 7.
Teo had pleaded guilty on October 17 to a single charge of voluntarily causing hurt, with a second similar charge taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The Primary 2 student cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ernest Goh told the court that Teo had been hired by the girl’s father in January this year to privately tutor his daughter in mathematics after he found Teo’s name on a website.
According to court documents, Teo had assaulted the girl on at least two occasions.
DPP Goh said that one of the incidents took place on the morning of March 18.
At that time, Teo was alone with his student in a study room with the doors closed when he lost his temper after the girl provided him with incorrect answers to his mathematics questions.
While scolding the girl, Teo flicked her left forearm using his fingers and punched her left arm twice.
Teo had also grabbed her head and pushed it downwards.
All these actions had caused the girl to cry out in pain, said DPP Goh, who added that some of this conduct had been captured by the home’s surveillance camera.
That evening, the girl informed her father that Teo would suddenly punch her whenever she failed to do her work properly, said the prosecutor.
“She further complained that her arm was in pain. Although the victim’s father thought she was merely being dramatic, he decided to observe her next lesson with the accused via the CCTV camera,” he said.
On the afternoon of March 22, Teo repeated his same methods of punishment when the girl again failed to answer his questions correctly.
The girl’s father, who was at home at the time, heard Teo raising his voice at his daughter.
He eventually confronted the older man after he witnessed what Teo had done to his daughter through the surveillance footage.
In response, Teo told the man that he could no longer teach his daughter, and was in turn told to leave the house.
The father lodged a police report against Teo later that day.
DPP Goh, who sought a short custodial sentence for Teo and left its duration up to the court, said that there were several aggravating factors in this case which were committed in the sanctity of the victim’s own home.
Among them was the fact that the victim was “highly vulnerable”, being just eight years of age, and the aggressor was much “larger and stronger” than her.
The attacks were also “entirely unprovoked” and Teo had positioned himself in the room in such a way that the girl could not evade him.
Teo, who was unrepresented, told the court that he regretted his actions and that he no longer wants to teach as it is “not worth it” and he just wants to “move on with (his) semi-retirement”.
He also said that he had lost his calm as the girl was a “slow learner” and was neither responsive nor interested.
“Plus her mum is an English teacher. In my heart, I was thinking how can a mum let her daughter be in this state. Her standard is probably kindergarten standard and I wanted to help her.”
At one point, Teo had asked District Judge Christopher Goh if it was possible for him to not receive the jail sentence, to which the judge said that he had already imposed it, though Teo could appeal against it if he was dissatisfied.
To this, Teo declined and said he just wanted to “move on”.
Anyone found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt can be punished with a jail term of up to three years, or fined up to S$5,000 (RM16,788), or both
In instances where the offence involves a person below the age of 14, the court may increase the same set of punishments to not more than twice the maximum amount if the offender is aware of the victim’s age. — TODAY
