SINGAPORE: A former pre-school teacher admitted in court on Monday (Nov 21) that she had ill-treated a four-year-old boy with special needs by pulling his ears and pushing him about roughly when he did not go to sleep at naptime.
The 51-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to gag orders by the court protecting the victim’s identity, pleaded guilty to one count of ill-treating the boy under the Children and Young Persons Act.
A second charge of using criminal force on the boy will be considered in sentencing.
The court heard that the woman was a pre-school teacher at a school since 2013. The name of the school is also covered by the gag order.
She taught Mandarin to pre-schoolers, bathed them, put them to sleep, fed them and helped them with outdoor play.
The victim, who was four at the time, had delayed speech development and started speaking only when he was almost five.
He had difficulty maintaining eye contact with others from a young age and had minimal interaction with other children. An assessment found that he was likely to have Autism Spectrum Disorder and he received early intervention speech and language therapy.
At about 12.30pm on Dec 2, 2020, it was naptime for the pre-schoolers at the school.
They were escorted into a designated sleeping room, and the accused and her colleague were in charge of putting the children to sleep and watching over them.
At about 12.35pm, the accused sat next to the victim to put him to sleep. However, she quickly became angry and frustrated as she was unable to put him to sleep.
She felt tired and hungry because she had not eaten lunch, the court heard.
About 10 minutes later, she pulled the boy up by his shoulders and pushed him forward. The boy rolled on the floor and landed outside his sleeping mat.
When he sat up, the accused grabbed him by the forearm and dragged him across the floor, causing his knees to hit the floor.
The boy struggled to get a foothold, and when the accused got him to sit down, she pulled both his ears, scratching both sides of his neck in the process.
The boy covered his ears in pain, but the woman continued to pull his ears. The force of the pull led the boy to bend his head downwards. He felt pain and covered his head.
At some point, the accused’s colleague heard the boy crying. However, the accused continued to treat the boy roughly – pulling the boy forcefully towards her and pushing him while he was seated, such that he fell forward.
The actions were captured by closed-circuit television cameras in the sleeping room.
Later that day, the boy’s mother came to pick up her son. The accused lied to her that the scratches on him were accidental. She claimed that the boy had struggled when she tried to pat him to sleep.
However, when the mother got home she saw the marks on her son and lodged a complaint to the pre-school.
The accused again lied to the principal, but eventually admitted to handling the boy roughly after being confronted with CCTV footage.
The boy’s mother later lodged a police report. The school paid for the victim’s medical bills, and the accused was fired two days after the incident.
The judge adjourned sentencing to January. The prosecution is seeking 11 to 13 months’ jail for the woman, who has no prior convictions.
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