Singaporean are gullible part II
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WE FIRST EXPOSED HIM AS A MATCHMAKER WITH A SLEAZY TWIST. BUT THIS SINGAPORE ENGLISH TEACHER'S PAST IS EVEN DARKER THAN IMAGINED
By Fawziah Selamat
HE first made the news here for his 'matchmaking' website featuring Asian women, some of them naked. Well, there's more shocking news in store.
American Jack West is a convicted paedophile who has had contact with children while teaching in Singapore.
The New Paper on Sunday discovered this after receiving a tip-off from Singapore permanent resident Matthew Farr, who had met West in 1999. Checks with the US authorities showed West has had a crime sheet since the 1970s. In 1998, he was jailed for two years for sexual offences against his own son, who was 7 at the time. West was originally charged with raping his son in 1990, but did not stand trial as he had left for Indonesia in 1989. In 1997, he returned to the US and pleaded guilty to four reduced charges of sexual battery.
Released in 1999, he came to Singapore, claiming to have qualifications to teach English. How did a convicted paedophile manage to get an employment pass to work here?
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is now investigating. Foreigners applying for an employment pass (EP) must declare whether they have been convicted in a court of law in any country. West's employment pass is valid till next February. It is not known yet if West, now 58, lied in his application form. If so, he can be charged and have his EP revoked. Lawyer Amolat Singh said that anyone found guilty of making false declarations could be looking at jail time.
West first appeared in The New Paper on Sunday two weeks ago in a report about his website that introduces Asian women to 'American gentlemen'. He described the women as 'meat in a butcher shop' and his site features sexually explicit content, but West defended himself as a 'legitimate businessman'.
Checks confirmed he was the same Jack West convicted in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mostly self-employed, West registered a business under the name JGW Consultancy in 2001. This includes his introduction service, a sideline to his primary business of teaching English.
In his resume, West claims to be certified by the Education Ministry (MOE) to teach English at all levels. An MOE spokesman clarified that West was registered with MOE to teach English only in private schools.
One school that hired him, but did not register his application with MOE, was Maxwell School of Languages. Maxwell's supervisor, Mr Christopher Yeh, 39, remembers employing West for a period of four to six months. He said the school had students as young as 8 when West was teaching there. West's contract was not renewed after a complaint by another teacher.
Canadian Kathy Farr, 58, now retired, taught at the school in 2001. 'I can't explain it but he made me uncomfortable,' said Mrs Farr. Her discomfort led her to tell her son, Mr Matthew Farr, about West. The trader, 35, had met West in 1999 when West unsuccessfully applied to another language school, Berlitz Singapore. Mr Farr did a search on the Internet and discovered an article on West in the Cincinnati Post detailing his criminal history. He also found West's website featuring Asian women. Said Mr Farr: 'When my mother told me he was working at Maxwell, I told her what I had found out.'
As a result of Mrs Farr's complaint, the school did not renew West's contract. Mr Yeh does not remember how long that was after the complaint. Asked why the school did not confront West immediately, Mr Yeh said he did not want to alarm the students. -
CRIMINAL HISTORY
It wasn't till a May 1987 fire at West's Cincinnati flat that charges of paedophilia and incest began to take shape.
According to The Cincinnati Post, firefighters found 'boxes filled with what police would later describe as sexually explicit photographs, magazines, videotapes and films'. Two months later, West was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to four counts of possessing sexually explicit material involving juveniles. A prosecutor with the Hamilton County Prosecutors Office in Ohio who worked on West's case told The New Paper on Sunday that he was charged with eight counts of raping his son in 1990.
But West had left Ohio in April 1988, and eventually moved to Indonesia. A warrant was issued for his arrest. He married an Indonesian woman in 1989. They are now living in Singapore with their two children, aged 13 and 14.
West returned to the US in May 1997 to stand trial. He testified in court that he had occasionally entered Singapore between 1991 and 1997. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) could not confirm by press time whether West had entered Singapore during that time.
The Hamilton County prosecutor said that after a plea bargain the rape charges were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on four counts of sexual battery. Three offences occurred in 1984, when his son was 7, and the fourth in 1985. It is understood that West's son, now 29, is a convicted child molester in Kentucky. West was sentenced to two years' jail on each charge, to run concurrently. Checks with Cincinnati police showed that West was released on Mar 10, 1998. The reason for his early release is not known.
THREATS, GUNS
The Hamilton County prosecutor said West was also charged with three counts of intimidation against a prosecutor and other public officers.
They were made while he was in Indonesia. In one threat, West sent a photograph of himself holding a gun in one hand and showing the middle finger with the other. Another showed him with a gun and a note attached saying: 'I'm ready and waiting'. It's not known whether the guns were real. West was sentenced to five years' probation on the intimidation charges.
West was ruled a sexually oriented offender in September 1999 by the Ohio court. This means he must register his address with the local sheriff annually for 10 years. Lawyer Amolat Singh said there is no law here to force foreign convicted sex offenders to register with the police.
In a bizarre twist, West was summoned to return to Cincinnati to be a witness in a murder case earlier this year. The murder suspect had robbed an antiques shop owned by position be West in 1984. West had insisted that his dedone in Hawaii, but it never took place. -
Thought he talked something dif again?
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REJECTED BY INDONESIA, HE CAME TO SINGAPORE
WEST came to Singapore, apparently because he was denied entry to return to Indonesia after serving his sentence for sexual battery.
According to court reports of his intimidation case, the Ohio court granted West's request to leave the US for Asia in 1999 while he was still serving his probation sentence. An official from the Hamilton County Probations Department (HCPD) told The New Paper on Sunday that West originally requested to enter Indonesia to be with his Indonesian family. 'Public records of his sexual battery conviction and probation sentence for the intimidation charge were given to the Indonesian Embassy in Washington DC so that the Indonesian government was made aware of his character,' said the official.
But West never made it to Indonesia. HCPD said West had a plane ticket to Singapore, where he then planned to take a boat to Jakarta. West told his probation officer he was denied entry into Jakarta and claimed he was sent back by Indonesian authorities to Singapore.
Said the officer: 'Attempts were made to inform the American Embassy in Singapore that West had entered Singapore.' But HCPD was not certain whether the Embassy received the information or took any action afterwards. The Singapore Embassy in the US was not notified, said HCPD.
Soon after, West brought his Indonesian family to live with him in Singapore.
MONITORED CLOSELY
West's website was also monitored by HCPD to ensure he did not violate any US laws. 'While West was on probation, the website had been deemed erotic rather than pornographic and therefore was not a probation violation,' said the official.
West would have been extradited to the US to face charges of violating his probation if the website had been deemed pornographic. 'But it's become more explicit since his probation ended,' added the official.
The conditions of West's probation did not require him to report either personally or via long-distance communication to HCPD, merely that he did not commit any crime during his probation period.
HIS WINDING TRAIL
Early 1970s | Convicted for possession of a firearm. Jailed 1 year
1973 | Convicted for peddling LSD. Sentence unknown
1987 | Pleaded guilty to possessing sexually explicit material involving juveniles. Jailed for six months
1989 | Left for Indonesia
1990 | Charged in US with raping 7-year-old son
1997 | Returned to US to stand trial on rape charges
1998 | Pleaded guilty to four reduced charges of sexual battery of his son and three separate charges of intimidation. Sentenced to two years' jail for sexual battery and five years' probation for intimidation
1999 | Arrives in Singapore, and is joined later by Indonesian wife and two children. Applies to teach in private Singapore schools. Ohio court rules him a sexually oriented offender
2001 | Teaches English in Singapore
2003 | Probation sentence ends. -
MANPOWER MINISTRY'S REPLY
AFTER Jack West's criminal background was made known to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), a spokesman said it was investigating the matter.
'All foreigners applying for an employment pass are required to make a legal declaration that he or she has not been convicted in a court of law in any country before. If the person has been convicted before, he or she is then required to furnish details of the convictions to MOM for further assessments'.
The spokesman added those who make a false declaration will be charged.
EDUCATION MINISTRY'S REPLY
THE Education Ministry (MOE) clarified that Jack West is not a teacher in any of Singapore's mainstream schools. It said West was registered with MOE to teach English at Orchard School of Arts and Commerce on Nov 27, 2000, Coleman College on Jul 25 2001 and Tropics Language School on May 11 2002.
He has since left these schools and is no longer registered to teach, it added.
'Registration of private school teachers with MOE is a statutory requirement before they can begin teaching in Singapore,' said MOE. 'Applicants have to declare that they are persons of good character and have never been convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment.
'The supervisor of the private school has to confirm that the information provided by the applicant has been verified and that all supporting documents forwarded to MOE are certified true copies. If a registered teacher is found to have made a false declaration, he or she is liable to be de-registered, fined or even imprisoned.'