A 29 year-old former reporter with The Straits Times (ST) was charged in court on Monday with three counts of having consensual sex with a minor.
The Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) local scholar is accused of having oral sex with the 15-year-old girl at a house off Upper Paya Lebar Road between November and December 2011, and at a male public toilet at Fort Canning Park in the early months of last year. The third charge alleges that he had sex with the minor at a flat in Serangoon Avenue 1 on June 23 last year.
The case against him will be mentioned on Nov 18 after his lawyer Mathew Kurian sought a four-week adjournment to make representations. Mr Kurian also requested that his client's name be kept out of the media as it could lead to the disclosure of the victim. This, after the court granted a gag order on the victim. The prosecution had no objections.
The accused joined The Straits Times in 2009 but his employment was terminated on Jan 18 this year. If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to 10 years and/or fined on each charge.
=============
You really wonder why the courts need to order a gag on the identity of the perpetrator when it was already disclosed in Feb as one Elsen Teo. It is even more confusing when the courts have readily disclosed such sex offenders . If it is the policy not to name any person accused of sexual crime before they're convicted, why does the court not tell us about it? What is so special about this SPH scholar? Anyway his identity is here:
===============
Monday, Feb 04, 2013
SINGAPORE - A FORMER reporter with The Straits Times is being investigated by the police over an allegation of underage sex.
Mr Eisen Teo, 28, who was on the Schools team, had his services terminated by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) on Jan 18. This followed an internal investigation.
An SPH spokesman said yesterday: "As the police investigation is still ongoing, we are unable to provide further details at this point in time."
Mr Teo was called in for questioning by the police in late December. It is understood that he has not been charged.
A Singapore Press Holdings local scholar, he joined the paper in 2009 and was part of the Schools team, which produces two magazines for schools - Little Red Dot for primary pupils, and IN for secondary students.
It also conducts activities for students in its media club.
He was well regarded by colleagues and news of the police probe shocked the newsroom.
.jpg)
