Oftentimes, working parents would leave their children in the care of infant care teachers so that they could go about their day with some peace of mind.
Hence, it must come as a shock to the parents of a 1-year-old boy when they found out that he had become a victim of abuse by a teacher at such a facility.
The unnamed teacher had allegedly physically abused the child multiple times and at one point hit the child’s back till his skin turned blue.
CCTV footage also caught her slamming the boy onto the ground on one occasion.
The teacher is due back in court in March after pleading guilty on Friday (18 Feb).
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the offender was caught on video footage physically abusing the child on 24 Dec 2019.
Between 12.30 pm and 1 pm that day, the infant care teacher reportedly abused the child in the following ways:
Though the child cried in pain throughout the ordeal, she allegedly chose to ignore him.
Later, she began noticing a red patch forming on the child’s back, which eventually turned blue after an hour.
As the injuries became harder to hide, the teacher sent the mother a WhatsApp message asking if the child had “very sensitive skin”, reports The Straits Times (ST).
She then apologised for patting him to sleep “a bit hard” and claimed that his skin was “having an outbreak”, stated CNA.
Seeing this, the mother brought her child to the hospital, where doctors identified his bruise as an “alleged non-accidental injury”. By then, the bruise had grown in size, spanning 13 cm by 8 cm.
The preschool paid for this hospital visit.
To confirm her suspicions, the mother later viewed CCTV footage and witnessed the teacher abusing her child. She then made a police report on 31 Dec 2019.
In the teacher’s defence, the lawyer suggested that his client had “cared deeply for all the children she’s worked with” and that this incident was “completely out of character”, reported CNA.
Noting that the child had no permanent injuries, the lawyer also mentioned that the teacher had sought forgiveness from the child’s parents.
The punishment for ill-treating a child can land an offender in jail for up to 4 years and fined up to $4,000.
According to CNA, the prosecution sought a year’s jail for the teacher, while her lawyer requested half the term.
Though the teacher pleaded guilty on Friday, she will be due back in court in March for her sentencing.
Considering the extent of the child’s abuse, the ordeal must have been mortifying both for the 1-year-old and his parents.
Hopefully, once the court determines the teacher’s sentence, they’ll be able to find some form of closure.
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Featured image adapted from Diana Polekhina on Unsplash.
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