SINGAPORE - A former swim coach was jailed for 10 months on Friday (May 5) for sexual exploitation after a four-day trial.

Tan Koek Seng, now 68, had claimed trial to a single charge of committing an obscene act with a 12-year-old boy in the male toilet at Hougang Swimming Complex on Hougang Avenue 4 on Feb 8, 2015.

Now unemployed, Tan's licence as a swim coach has been suspended by Sport Singapore.

The investigation officer said despite several attempts to serve summons on the victim and his mother, neither was willing to relive the traumatic experience.

The prosecution's case was based mainly on Tan's admission. He confessed to the police that he had masturbated the victim.

Several police officers had testified that no threat, inducement or promise was given to Tan when his statement was recorded.

A lifeguard at the public complex had called the police after the boy's mother notified him that her son had been molested.

He testified that she refused to allow him near her son. She did not want her son involved and wanted to protect him.

Tan's defence was that it was the victim who approached him, but he rejected the boy's offer.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chee Ee Ling had sought a sentence of at least 15 months to be imposed on Tan on Friday(May 5). She said Tan was 54 years older than the victim, and that he had abused the trust the victim had reposed in him.

"There is a public interest in protecting children attending lessons at public facilities from unwarranted sexual advances," she said.

Tan, who was unrepresented, could have been fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to five years under the Children and Young Persons Act.