SINGAPORE – An infant care teacher at a pre-school force-fed a one-year-old girl milk from a bottle until she struggled and vomited.
Upset with her cries, the woman, who is no longer working there, continued ill-treating the victim and hit her on the back.
Without revealing details, Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Ang said the offender also abused an eight-month-old boy and a 10-month-old girl.
On July 8, the 37-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the children, was sentenced to a year and two months’ jail.
She had pleaded guilty to one count of ill-treating the one-year-old girl.
Two other similar charges involving the other victims were considered during sentencing.
All three charges are under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA).
The woman started working at the pre-school in 2022; details about it have been redacted from court documents.
She had to care for about 10 children, between two and 18 months’ old. Her duties included changing their diapers and feeding them.
The one-year-old victim was enrolled at the pre-school in February 2024.
Abused in nap room
Shortly before noon on Sept 23 that year, the woman took the girl and three other children to a nap room to drink milk and sleep.
The children were placed on a mattress on the floor, and she handed them a milk bottle each.
Minutes later, the victim stopped drinking and did not finish her milk. The woman placed the bottle back into the child’s mouth, but she turned her head away.
The woman tried but failed to feed the child, who struggled and kicked her legs around.
At around 12.05pm, the woman used her left hand to hold the victim’s head while pushing the milk bottle into her mouth with her right hand. The girl still refused to drink from the bottle and spat out the milk.
The girl shook her head and thrashed her limbs around. The woman then removed the bottle from the toddler’s mouth.
The woman continued to force-feed the toddler by holding her head in place with her left hand and right wrist.
The child struggled and the offender briefly took the bottle out of her mouth. The girl swung her body to her right and vomited.
Despite this, the woman continued ill-treating the victim, and used a hand to hit the child’s head.
Shortly before 12.10pm, she used her hands to hit the child’s back before she took her out of the room.
Exposed by whistle-blower
Three days later, an unnamed informant reported that instances of child abuse had taken place at the pre-school.
The DPP did not disclose how the informant had found out about such cases, or whom he or she reported to.
Staff at the pre-school then viewed CCTV footage and uncovered numerous incidents involving the woman and one of their colleagues, identified only as B2 in court documents.
Their employment was terminated soon after.
The pre-school referred the matter to the Early Childhood Development Agency, which conducted its investigations against B2 and the woman.
Court documents did not disclose details about the case involving B2, who was earlier sentenced to eight months and two weeks’ jail.
The woman in the current case was arrested in November 2025.
On July 8, the DPP asked the court to sentence her to up to a year and four months’ jail, adding: “Children are generally unable to fend for nor defend themselves, and they are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society.”
He also said that in 2019, amendments were made to the CYPA, in which Parliament re-emphasised its resolve to protect vulnerable victims such as children, and the maximum penalty for such offences was doubled.
For each count of ill-treating a child, an offender can be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to $8,000, or both.
