AN OPERATIONS manager was charged on Wednesday with molesting an eight-year-old boy.

Terence Thaver, 43, is accused of hugging the boy as well as kissing him on the mouth and cheeks at a neighbourhood centre in the central district on a day between May and June last year.

The former primary school teacher was represented by a lawyer.

He was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric assessment.

The case will be mentioned on April 8.

If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to five years or fine or caning or any combination of such punishments for using criminal force on a person under 14 years old.