A senior teacher at a Yuen Long primary school is being investigated by the police after he was accused of sending inappropriate and predatory WhatsApp messages to a Year Six student.
The teacher, who was not named, has also been suspended from his job at Buddhist Chan Wing Kan Memorial School. The Hong Kong Buddhist Association, which manages the school, said academic affairs consultants and the school principal would be investigating the matter as part of an internal probe.
The incident was brought to light on Monday, when a netizen said on Facebook that a teacher had been harassing her younger sister, who recently graduated Primary Six (primary schooling in Hong Kong ends at the age of 12). The man had reportedly never taught the girl in class.
In her Facebook post, the netizen said the teacher once texted her sister to say he was at her front door. Pictures of the messages were attached, in which the teacher repeatedly calls the girl his “goddess” and says other skin-crawlingly inappropriate things like “You’re prettiest when you smile”, “I miss you”, “I love you”, and “As an adult, I think that if you become more gentle and less stubborn, you would be perfect. […] Boys like girls who are gentle.”
In one sample of the messages obtained by HK01, the teacher asks if the girl collected a doll he bought for her, then asks — twice — “Can you take a selfie with the doll for me to look at?” No information identifying the teacher was given, but according to the girl’s sister, he is planning to retire soon.
The victim’s sister said she had complained to the school principal about the matter, but the teacher claimed he “cared for the girl like a daughter” and had sent the messages out of “paternal concern”. The case has since been reported to the police by the girl’s mother and an investigation is underway.
A spokesperson for the primary school told the SCMP they would report the case to the Education Bureau and the Council on Professional Conduct in Education.
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