SINGAPORE: A badminton team coach who had sexual relations with a secondary school student he had trained was jailed for three years on Thursday (May 23). 

The man, then 29, had groomed the girl, then 15, by asking her intimate questions. He then took advantage of her in the car park of a club with sports facilities in 2019.

Now 33, the man pleaded guilty to two out of three counts of sexual penetration of a minor under 16. The remaining count was taken into consideration for his sentence. 

The victim and accused cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity. 

The accused had been employed as a badminton team coach between 2017 and June 2019. The victim, then in Secondary 1, joined the badminton team in 2017 and knew the man as a coach. 

Between March and April 2017, the accused and the victim started following each other on Instagram and began messaging daily. 

Eventually, the accused began taking the victim home after practice and also took her out for meals. He additionally conducted free private coaching sessions for her. 

In 2018, when the victim was about 14, the accused started holding her hands in public, as well as hugged and kissed her in his car. 

"The accused’s care and attention towards the victim made her feel special. The accused told her that they could only be in an ‘unofficial’ relationship as he was already married and the victim agreed to this arrangement," the prosecution said. 

After the victim turned 15 in 2019, the accused started asking her intimate questions. He sent her a checklist of questions, including if she had sex before. 

When the accused asked if he could have sex with her, the girl declined. The accused, however, persisted in his requests for sex and she eventually agreed. 

Meanwhile, the principal and the Head of Department for Co-Curricular Activities and Physical Education at the girl's secondary school were notified about inappropriate behavior from the accused in April 2019.

The accused had sent inappropriate messages to students, including girls who were not from the badminton team. 

The principal spoke to seven students, with two saying they received inappropriate messages in 2018. 

The messages commented on the looks and figures of other girls in the school, asked if the student had watched pornography, and qu...