Woman jailed for abusing 3 children at kindergarten care service
The 35-year-old woman pulled the children by their arms and threw chairs across the room in her rage.
A view of the State Courts building in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Ili Nadhirah Mansor)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: When a parent lodged a complaint that their child was afraid to attend a kindergarten care service because of an employee's behaviour, the care service reviewed closed-circuit television footage and discovered abuse.
A 35-year-old woman was sentenced to six months' jail on Tuesday (Oct 28) for two counts of ill-treating children, with a third charge taken into consideration.
A gag order imposed by the court prevents identification of the victims, the accused and the location of the offence.
The court heard that the woman was employed as "programme staff" at an unnamed "care service for kindergarten children". Her main responsibilities were to take care of a class of about 12-13 kindergarten students on weekdays from 7am to 1pm at a centre in a redacted location.
The three victims who attended the service were two boys aged five at the time and a four-year-old girl.
On Jul 25, 2024, the woman was supervising two classes of about 24 students, including the victims.
The students were having lunch and seated along three tables.
At about noon, the woman was angered as she felt that one of the boys was misbehaving. She went to the boy, who was standing behind a chair, grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. With the other hand, she flung the chair away.
She then dragged him by the arm to where the four-year-old girl was standing, as she was also angry with her.
While holding onto the boy, the woman flung away the girl's chair and shouted at her, telling her to stand and eat her lunch.
When the girl did not move, the woman grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to the table, causing the girl to hit the furniture.
She then shouted at the girl again, before turning to the boy and pushing him towards the wall. When he turned to look at her, the woman pushed him again. The boy fell and almost hit his head against the wall.
The woman then thought the other five-year-old boy was laughing. Angered, she hoisted him up by the arm and pulled him away from the chair and towards a wall, causing him to fall forward.
She threw two chairs into an open space in the classroom.
After that, she scolded two of the victims and instructed one of them to pick up and replace the chairs she had thrown to the ground.
The children did not seek medical attention.
The next morning, one of the victims' parents lodged a complaint, saying their child was afraid to attend the care service due to the woman's behaviour.
Staff at the care service reviewed CCTV footage and lodged a police report.
The prosecution had sought six months' jail, saying the woman had abused her position of trust and authority and that her offences were more difficult to detect because she was left alone with the children.
For each charge of ill-treating a child, she could have been jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000, or both.
