SINGAPORE: A man who tutored female students at his flat would commit sexual acts as he stood behind the teen girls, even touching them with his private parts.
The girls would be unaware of these acts as Michael Martin Lee Teck Heng, now aged 58, would place his hand on the back or shoulder of the girl to disguise the contact.
His offences came to light after the private tutor was caught exposing himself in public.
During investigations, police officers found at least 406 videos which Lee had filmed showing Lee exposing himself, or placing his private parts on their back or shoulder.
Lee was sentenced to four years and nine months’ jail on Tuesday (Jun 17) after he pleaded guilty to one count of committing an obscene act, one count of making obscene films, three counts of molest, and one count of aggravated molest.
Another 10 charges relating to the same incidents were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The victims, along with the address of the incident, may not be published under a gag order in order to protect the identities of the victims.
HOW HE FILMED TUTEES
Lee, who is married, gave mathematics and science tuition to primary and secondary school students in his home one-on-one.
In May 2019, he began taking videos of himself committing sexual acts in public behind or at a distance from unsuspecting women.
He did the same to tutees whom he was teaching in the living room of his unit, filming the process.
A total of five female tutees were identified by the police. They were aged between 13 and 16 at the time of the offences.
The victims were unaware of the acts but one of them, a 15-year-old girl, felt something was amiss and felt discomfited by the close proximity with Lee.
She suspected the nature of the acts but did not confront him as she felt she might have been overthinking the matter, given her perception that Lee was religious.
She also feared that he might do something worse as she was alone with him.
On some occasions in 2019, Lee placed his private parts against a 16-year-old victim during their tuition sessions. He disguised the contact by placing his hand on her back or shoulder as he perpetrated lewd acts behind her.
Lee claimed he did the acts as this victim had shown him care and concern and he “felt attached” to her.
This eldest victim was captured in 228 videos over 13 occasions.
YOUNGEST VICTIM
Lee did the same with the youngest victim, who was only 13 years old at the time of the offences. She was unaware he took videos of her.
“The accused admitted during investigations that the fourth victim was one of his more ‘headstrong’ students and he had felt a need to ‘control’ her,” the prosecution stated.
He stated that he could exert such control by committing the obscene acts. This need to control her accounted for why a high proportion of the videos featured the fourth victim, the prosecution said.
On Sept 30, 2019, Lee was seen exposing his private parts at a bus stop by a woman who then called the police.
Police officers who responded to the call found Lee to match the description they had been given. They checked his mobile phone and discovered the video he recorded of himself committing sexual acts.
He was arrested and his phone seized. During a raid of his house, his computer was also seized. Both devices were sent for forensic examination.
Hundreds of obscene films were found on his computer, with at least 545 featuring Lee committing lewd acts in public places while behind or out of sight of unidentified women in 299 incidents.
At least 406 videos showed Lee doing the same behind young female subjects or placing his private parts on them in his living room over 31 incidents.
In total, between May and September 2019, Lee made 951 obscene films of himself in public and in his home.
LEE HAS EXHIBITIONISTIC DISORDER
Lee’s lawyer Joyce Khoo from law firm Quahe Woo & Palmer argued for around three years and 11 months’ jail, while the prosecution sought five to six years’ jail.
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.
“There is also an element of public protection that warrants consideration,” said Ms Lim, describing the sheer number of instances on which Lee had exposed himself in public in the presence of women.
“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 said.
In mitigation, Ms Khoo said Lee had suffered from a “litany of diagnosed mental illnesses since 1997”, and had “exhibitionistic disorder” at the time of the offences.
She submitted at least four medical reports from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) dating back to 1997 in support of her argument.
Lee had been undergoing treatment for adjustment disorder since 1997.
However, after Lee stopped relying on his medication, he found himself facing stressors from his family and students in 2018 and 2019, which caused him to regress.
Lee was assessed to have exhibitionistic disorder in a 2022 medical report, with an IMH doctor stating this disorder had a contributory link to Lee’s offences. His risk of offending was found to be low to moderate.
“Since our client’s arrest in September 2019, our client has constantly expressed extreme remorse for his actions.
“Our client has taken concrete steps to manage his psychiatric conditions and dedicated himself to doing everything necessary to ensure that there will not be another relapse,” said Ms Khoo.
“Our client’s efforts since his arrest have borne fruit; our client has not reoffended in almost six years.”
Ms Khoo said that Lee has stopped giving tuition to focus on managing his psychiatric conditions.
Disagreeing that Lee’s condition should be accorded mitigating weight, Ms Lim said that the disorder was a “nothing more than a psychiatric label to describe a perverse behaviour”.
JUDGE’S REMARKS
Principal District Judge Toh Han Li noted that exhibitionistic disorder was not an impulse control disorder.
The disorder did not impair Lee’s ability to exercise self control, and Lee was aware his acts – which he did of his own volition – were wrong, noted Judge Toh.
The district judge gave no mitigating weight to the mental condition.
The judge also considered how Lee had abused the trust of his tutees, who were vulnerable victims, and how he committed the acts while maintaining a ruse.
