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FORMER River Valley High School teacher Chua Ren Cheng, who was among four men charged yesterday with having paid sex with an underage girl, intends to plead guilty.
He becomes only the second of the 48 men charged with the same offence to do so, after former principal Lee Lip Hong told the court on Monday that he would not be claiming trial to the two charges he is facing.
Chua, however, also gained attention for another reason yesterday, donning an elaborate ensemble of a dark blue hoodie, cap, sunglasses and surgical mask before scurrying out of the Subordinate Courts, pursued by press photographers.
The 31-year-old, who declined comment, allegedly had sex with an underage prostitute between 4.30pm and 5.30pm on Dec 22, 2010 at the Strand Hotel. He paid $750 for the tryst.
He has been given a week by the court to decide whether to engage a lawyer, and will return to court again next Wednesday.
Chua, who was said to be active in grassroots work, has a master's in radiation physics with medical applications from University College London.
Yesterday, former students at his school said Chua was a stickler for discipline.
One of them who had spent time with him in grassroots work said: 'The members, including myself, could sense that something was wrong when he started to not show up for various meetings and committee events, but we were not sure what it was.'
Colleagues at River Valley High School told The Straits Times yesterday that they had been instructed by the school's principal not to speak to the media about the case.
Meanwhile, as discussions of the high-profile case continue to centre on the involvement of Lee, his former school, Pei Chun Public School, sent a letter to the parents of its pupils.
Principal Ler Jia Luen said she was saddened by what had happened to her predecessor and sought the parents' understanding.
Parents interviewed yesterday said they were confident that the school's image would not suffer from the incident.
He becomes only the second of the 48 men charged with the same offence to do so, after former principal Lee Lip Hong told the court on Monday that he would not be claiming trial to the two charges he is facing.
Chua, however, also gained attention for another reason yesterday, donning an elaborate ensemble of a dark blue hoodie, cap, sunglasses and surgical mask before scurrying out of the Subordinate Courts, pursued by press photographers.
The 31-year-old, who declined comment, allegedly had sex with an underage prostitute between 4.30pm and 5.30pm on Dec 22, 2010 at the Strand Hotel. He paid $750 for the tryst.
He has been given a week by the court to decide whether to engage a lawyer, and will return to court again next Wednesday.
Chua, who was said to be active in grassroots work, has a master's in radiation physics with medical applications from University College London.
Yesterday, former students at his school said Chua was a stickler for discipline.
One of them who had spent time with him in grassroots work said: 'The members, including myself, could sense that something was wrong when he started to not show up for various meetings and committee events, but we were not sure what it was.'
Colleagues at River Valley High School told The Straits Times yesterday that they had been instructed by the school's principal not to speak to the media about the case.
Meanwhile, as discussions of the high-profile case continue to centre on the involvement of Lee, his former school, Pei Chun Public School, sent a letter to the parents of its pupils.
Principal Ler Jia Luen said she was saddened by what had happened to her predecessor and sought the parents' understanding.
Parents interviewed yesterday said they were confident that the school's image would not suffer from the incident.