A former preschool teacher has been found guilty of ill-treating a two-year-old girl under her care, after the court ruled that she had used excessive force and later attempted to minimise her actions.
The offender, 32-year-old Chinese national Wu Jiaying, was convicted on Wednesday (22 Oct) over an incident that occurred on 11 May 2022 at a preschool in Singapore.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Sentencing has been scheduled for 25 Nov.
Wu, who was then a Chinese-language teacher for a Nursery 1 class, was captured on CCTV picking the girl up by her shoulders and placing her roughly on the floor and on a chair.
At around 10.38am, she was again seen grabbing the child’s left arm and lifting her, before dragging her across the classroom to a corner that was partly hidden from view by hanging decorations.
About 45 minutes later, after another teacher briefly left the classroom, Wu was seen grabbing the girl’s arm and shaking her forcefully while she sat beside her.
In another segment, she repeatedly pointed at the child’s forehead before grabbing her shoulder and turning her to face her.
An investigating officer later described Wu’s actions as “rough” and “violent”, saying they went beyond acceptable classroom management.
After the girl returned home that day, her mother noticed a scratch on her face and informed the preschool principal.
When asked, Wu and another teacher said they had not noticed any injury.
The principal reviewed the CCTV footage on 12 May 2022 and lodged a police report.
Wu was dismissed the following day, and the girl’s parents withdrew her from the preschool after viewing the footage.
Wu, who pleaded not guilty when her trial began in July 2024, claimed she had been suffering from major depressive disorder and was under significant work stress.
She argued that she had never been trained to manage children with potential special needs and that the school had ignored her feedback suggesting the child might have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Wu further insisted her actions were meant to calm the girl down, saying she had moved the child to a safe area and shaken her only to move her away from a cabinet and get her to settle down.
Delivering her verdict, District Judge Ong Chin Rhu found Wu guilty, saying she had deliberately used excessive force and later downplayed her conduct by describing it as merely “inappropriate” or “not gentle enough”.
While a medical report confirmed that Wu had depression, the judge noted that the doctor did not provide any details or examples showing how the condition affected her actions.
The claim that the victim had ADHD was also unsupported by evidence and therefore irrelevant.
Judge Ong said the court had “no difficulty” concluding, based on the CCTV footage, that Wu’s actions caused the child physical pain.
Before adjourning the case for sentencing, the judge also warned Wu about using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in court submissions after discovering that she had cited non-existent or inaccurate legal cases.
Wu was convicted of one count of ill-treating a child under the Children and Young Persons Act, which carries a maximum penalty of eight years’ jail, a fine of up to S$8,000, or both.
Also read: S’pore preschool teacher jailed 9 months for tripping toddler 4 times, causing nosebleed
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and by MS News.