Former National University of Singapore law professor Tey Tsun Hang has been sentenced to a jail term of five months and ordered to pay a penalty of S$514.80.
SINGAPORE: Former National University of Singapore law
professor Tey Tsun Hang has been sentenced to a jail term of five
months and ordered to pay a penalty of S$514.80.
The 42-year-old
was convicted last Tuesday of six counts of corruptly obtaining gifts
and sex from former student Darinne Ko in 2010.
The S$514.80
penalty includes the balance of a dinner bill and the cost of two
tailored shirts. The judge took into account that Tey had returned
S$1,000 to Ms Ko for the dinner and noted that the iPod and Montblanc
pen were forfeited by the authorities.
When giving his grounds for
decision, Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye said Tey had contributed
to the university's law faculty and to the wider legal community and
society.
The judge however said that there were several aggravating factors in the case.
He
noted that Tey had acted with pre-meditation when initiating the
illicit relationship with Ms Ko, who was only 21 years old at the time.
He
said: "What I found particularly unbecoming of the accused, who was a
senior educator (i.e. Professor of Law), was that he clearly and
systematically took advantage of his student, PW1 (Darinne Ko)."
The judge said Tey not only used his position of power and charm to have sex with Ms Ko but also told her to "get rid of the baby" when he found out she was pregnant with his child.
The judge said Tey not only used his position of power and charm to have sex with Ms Ko but also told her to "get rid of the baby" when he found out she was pregnant with his child.
The judge said this
showed his "callousness", and Tey continued to exploit Ms Ko when she
went to Duke University for an exchange programme in 2010.
Pointing
out that Tey had abused his power and authority as an educator, the
judge added that Tey betrayed the trust and confidence reposed in him by
the university when he disclosed confidential information to Ms Ko.
Tey
also brought the integrity of the university's examination assessment
system into question and invariably tarnished the university's
reputation, said the judge.
The judge also said that a key
aggravating factor was Tey's "litany of lies" -- he said Tey had "lied
repeatedly and behaved insidiously" from the time of investigations
until the end of trial.
The judge said Tey had "spun a yarn", alleging the statements to authorities (CPIB) were not made by him.
He also noted that Tey wasted the court's time when he had claimed to be unwell, which medical experts found to be untrue.
The
judge added that the sentence should befit Tey's crimes, and stressed
that "public confidence in such institutions of higher learning must not
be undermined by corruption".
He said: "Corruption must be
stamped out swiftly and effectively. There must also be an element of
sufficient deterrence in the sentence so that the message is clear that
corruption is not tolerated in the tertiary institutions."
Tey frowned throughout the 90-minute hearing as he listened to the judge from the dock.
Tey
has appealed against his conviction and sentence and is out on a
S$150,000 bail. His bailors include his sister-in-law and a friend.
- CNA/jc