Singapore – A one-year-old boy suffered extensive bruising on his back following repeated physical abuse by his infant care teacher at a preschool.
Despite the child crying in pain, the infant care teacher covered the child’s head with a pillow, slapped his cheek eight times and hit his back more than 20 times.
The 55-year-old Singaporean woman, who cannot be identified due to a gag order to protect the child’s identity, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) on Friday (Feb 18), reported The Straits Times.
The woman’s lawyer said there was “no good explanation” for her actions.
During her time at the preschool, the infant care teacher was responsible for caring for children up to 18 months old.
She would feed and change their diapers, among other duties.
However, she physically abused the child repeatedly, between 12:30 pm and 1 pm on Dec 24, 2019, instead of giving him care.
“In the immediate aftermath after the accused had perpetrated the physical abuse on the victim, she realised that a big red patch was visibly forming on the victim’s back. About one hour later, she realised that the red patch was turning blue,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Gerald Tan.
“The accused realised that the victim’s mother would surely notice the victim’s back injuries.”
In an attempt to hide her actions, the woman messaged the child’s mother through WhatsApp, asking if the boy had “very sensitive skin.”
She then said she might have been “a bit hard” when patting him to sleep and apologised.
The mother took her son to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital the following day, and he was diagnosed with “alleged non-accidental injury with bruising on (his) back,” reported ST.
The mother spent S$139.10 for the hospital visit, which has since been paid for by the preschool.
The infant care teacher’s offences were discovered when the mother later viewed the closed-circuit television at the preschool.
A police report was lodged on Dec 31, 2019.
Her lawyer, Azri Imran Tan, highlighted that she cared “deeply for all the children she had worked with,” adding that the abuse incident was “completely out of character.”
“(The offender) recognises what she has done was wrong, and that her actions were uncalled for… She hopes, in particular, that the victim and his family can forgive her,” said Mr Tan.
He added that the child did not suffer from permanent injuries, nor was his development adversely affected by the incident.
The woman is scheduled for sentencing on Mar 17.
Under the CYPA, any parent or guardian responsible for the ill-treatment of a child or young person may be liable to prosecution. If convicted, the person may be fined up to S$4,000, sentenced to imprisonment for up to four years or both./TISG
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