SINGAPORE — A woman who was in charge of taking care of students at a kindergarten abused a five-year-old boy whom she had deemed to be “uncooperative” and “disruptive”.

On Tuesday (July 2), the 54-year-old woman was convicted of a charge under the Children and Young Persons Act of ill-treating a child under her charge or care.

The woman, the boy and the kindergarten cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.

At the time of the offence, the woman was working as a student care officer at the kindergarten.

Her job scope includes taking care of students enrolled in the kindergarten’s childcare programme, including the victim, who was five years old then.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that on Feb 15, 2022, the woman was tasked to prepare snacks during tea break for the students and to watch over them.

She noticed that the boy and another student were playing with water at the sink in the classroom, and became frustrated that they were not listening to her instructions to sit down and eat their snacks.

Instead, they were filling up bottles with water and pouring them on the bookshelves.

This angered the woman, as she had deemed the children to have been "disruptive" earlier during the nap session.

She grabbed the boy by both his arms and dragged him away from the sink.

The boy fell to the ground and tried to resist, but the woman continued to drag him along.

After pulling the boy up to his feet, she then grabbed his right arm and walked him across the classroom and back to the sink area.

When the boy seemingly remained "uncooperative" and upon seeing that the floor near the sink was wet, the woman grew increasingly incensed.

She forcefully grabbed his arms and swung him repeatedly against the ground for about six seconds.

The woman grabbed the boy’s hair and pushed the back of his head towards the classroom floor, causing him to kneel and curl up in pain.

She then pulled the boy up and pushed him through a small group of students and started to gather his belongings.

When the boy dropped to his knees and refused to move, she dragged him along the classroom floor for about 40 seconds.

The incident was captured by surveillance cameras within the classroom.

WOMAN RESIGNED TWO DAYS AFTER INCIDENT

That night, the boy’s father saw scratch marks on his face and the back of his neck and asked how he sustained the injuries.

The boy revealed that the woman had caused them.

The next day, the parents alerted the kindergarten’s centre head who, together with the vice-principal, reviewed the surveillance footage of the incident.

The centre head also informed the woman’s employer of the incident, and she later resigned on Feb 17.

A police report was lodged on Feb 23.

The boy was taken to the National University Hospital a day later.

The case had earlier been fixed as a trial, before the woman decided to plead guilty.

She will be sentenced on Aug 6.

For her offence, the woman may be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000, or both.