A 52-year-old Singapore driving instructor was sentenced today to nine months' jail for molesting his student and uttering sexually explicit words in her presence.
Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman was convicted of three counts of molest and one count of insulting the girl's modesty following a three-day trial.
He had committed the offences in a car during the girl's fifth and final driving lesson on December 19 last year.
He did so while the 18-year-old student was driving around the Ubi Estate between 8.30am and 10am that day.
Abdul Aziz had placed his right hand on her inner left thigh and squeezed it several times.
He had also used a finger to brush against her chest.
During the trial, the girl had testified that during her first four lessons with Abdul Aziz, she found that he was "a very nice person who was easy to talk to".
He only started behaving inappropriately towards her after the first 15 minutes of the final lesson.
The student had also testified that she felt violated by Abdul Aziz's behaviour.
In mitigation, the instructor's lawyer, Ismail Hamid urged District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim to consider his client's age before sentencing him.
Mr Ismail added that Abdul Aziz has been suspended from his job since he was charged and was "deprived of his livelihood" for more than six months.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Edward Ti told the court that Abdul Aziz had betrayed what he referred to as a "sacred" relationship between a student and a teacher.
The crimes had also taken place in a confined space, said Mr Ti.
Abdul Aziz who intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence has been offered a bail of $15,000.
For each molest charge, he could have been jailed up to two years and fined.
And for insulting the teenager's modesty, he could have been jailed up to a year and fined.
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