The National University of Singapore said yesterday that it has reported a lecturer sacked weeks ago amid sexual assault accusations to the police.
Under pressure to come clean about how it handled serious accusations against one of its own, the university last night issued a detailed timeline of events starting two months ago in late August, when it received the first of two complaints of sexual misconduct by former lecturer Jeremy Fernando. Fernando was suspended amid an internal review and dismissed Oct. 7.
“The University received two complaints alleging that Dr Jeremy Fernando had behaved inappropriately as a teaching staff. All allegations of misconduct are taken seriously, and the University stands firmly against all forms of inappropriate behaviour. On receiving the initial complaint, the University immediately placed the staff member on suspension and started investigations,” NUS wrote, though its timeline indicates his suspension came four days after the complaint.
Neither the school’s letter nor its timeline, which ends this past Monday, indicates when it went to the police.
“The two students were advised to report the allegations of sexual misconduct to the police, in the company of an NUS staff. Given the seriousness of the allegations, NUS has also separately made a police report.”
NUS’ timeline showed that Fernando’s accusers declined to go to the police.
NUS professor linked to BDSM event sacked after sexual misconduct allegations
The institution, which was accused of giving “sparse” details about what happened, admitted that it should have provided clearer and more detailed information in a “timely manner.” It noted that it had to “balance interests of privacy and confidentiality, particularly for the victims involved.”
The University would like to provide clarifications on the matter concerning the dismissal of Dr Jeremy Fernando, a…
Posted by National University of Singapore on Wednesday, 21 October 2020
NUS’ timeline of events indicates that separate internal investigations were conducted after the first student’s complaint on Aug. 27. After that investigation completed on Sep. 5, the second accuser came forward Sept. 7.
A “no contact order” was issued to Fernando twice, it said, banning him from contacting the accusers both on and off campus while investigations were taking place. Fernando was also interviewed by the university about the complaints and allowed to “respond with additional information/mitigation factors” at the end of the second probe.
NUS did not reveal what Fernando’s response was, but noted that he was fired 41 days after the first complaint, on Oct. 7.
Attempts to reach Fernando by an email listed for him have been unsuccessful.
NUS students demand transparency after professor accused of sexual assault
“The University’s internal investigation established that Dr Fernando had an intimate association with an undergraduate. As this is a serious breach of the University’s Code of Conduct for Staff, the University acted swiftly to dismiss him,” NUS said.
Some thought that it was too little, too late and the school should have gone to the police sooner.
“Schools should ALWAYS immediately call the police in for investigation on sexual harassment. There should also be a law to punish schools who decided to take things in their own hands. And ladies, you are empowered to go to the police directly,” Germ Yong replied to the school’s announcement.
“The moment NUS decided to fire him, which came after they had already conducted their own investigation and thus established that he was guilty, they should have filed the police report.
In any case, they’ve already done so, which is good, but just felt there are still lapses in their protocol for such cases,” Mohamed Nasri said.
The Code of Conduct for Staff, which NUS has now published publicly as requested by students, states that staff are not allowed to engage in intimate relationships with undergraduates.
At least 10 student groups banded together Tuesday to call for greater transparency and accountability from the institution in response to the school’s “sparse” statement released two weeks after Fernando’s sacking. They also demanded that victims and students be kept up to date and involved in decision-making processes on campus safety measures.
One of the groups includes tFreedom, a sexuality-awareness group Fernando was involved with that was behind a discussion of sexual kink that was canceled last month.
Other stories you should check out:
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