The secondary school teacher believed his student "had a crush on him" and secretly flirted with the 15-year-old girl.

Asking her out on multiple occasions, he hugged and kissed her, touched her chest and buttocks, and tried to pressure her into having sex with him.

He became verbally abusive, telling her she deserved to be raped when she did not want to go out with him. The teacher, now 34, was yesterday sentenced to 17 months' jail for committing indecent acts on the girl.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of the offence, with another four counts taken into consideration. He cannot be named to protect the victim's identity.

The court heard that the man started teaching the victim's class in Jan 2017. She followed him on Instagram that month and from May 2017, the pair began messaging each other.

On Aug 31, when the victim wished him a Happy Teacher's Day, the man flirted with her and suggested she give him a whistle so he could "blow" it and make her sit in front of him.

In another conversation, when the victim expressed her discomfort over their age gap and the fact that he was her teacher, the man assured her they would keep a low profile until she graduated.

During a date on Sept 10, the teacher held the victim's hand while walking to a void deck and suddenly hugged and kissed her.

He then took her to a bench where he hugged and kissed her again and touched her chest over her clothes.

Later that night, she agreed to be his girlfriend on the condition they did not do anything she was not comfortable with. But the teacher tried to make her promise to have sex with him when she turned 17 or 18.

Two days later, the pair met at a fitness corner, where the teacher committed more indecent acts with the victim. They met again on Sept 14, and he hugged and kissed her again.

The pair messaged each other late into the night, and the teacher again tried to pressure the victim into having sex with him and to agree to marry him.

He became angry when she told him she disclosed their relationship to a friend, demanding to meet her. They did the next day, where he touched the victim inappropriately again.

The pair met for the last time on Sept 17. She finally broke up with him in October.

But the teacher continued to message her, proposing a "friends with benefits" arrangement and asked if he could continue to be intimate with her.

Their relationship came to light when the victim's mother saw the messages. The school and the police were alerted and the teacher was arrested.

The Ministry of Education said the man has been suspended since Nov 19, 2017, and is no longer teaching in any school. Internal disciplinary action will be taken against him.

This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.