6 months’ jail for woman who ill-treated 3 kindergarten children

SINGAPORE - A woman was working as a programme staff at a care service provider for kindergarten children when she flew into a rage and ill-treated three victims aged four and five years old.

On Oct 28, the 35-year-old Singaporean woman was sentenced to six months’ jail after she pleaded guilty to two counts of ill-treating a child in July 2024.

Details about her, the victims and the location of the offences cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect the children’s identities.

Her offences came to light the next day when a child’s parent lodged a complaint, stating that the child was afraid to attend the care service due to the woman’s behaviour.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Lau told the court that as part of her job, the offender had to take care of a class of about 12 or 13 kindergarten pupils on weekdays from 7am to 1pm at a centre.

While at work on July 25, 2024, she became angry as she felt that the first victim, a five-year-old boy, was misbehaving.

The DPP said: “She went over to the first victim, who was standing behind his chair. Grabbing his arm with one hand, she pulled him to the side and flung away his chair with her other hand.”

After that, the woman dragged the boy by his arm to where the second victim, a four-year-old girl, was standing.

While still holding on to the boy, the woman flung away the girl’s chair.

She also shouted at the girl, saying that she should stand and eat her lunch.

When the girl did not move, the woman grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to a table, causing the child to hit it.

The offender then turned her attention to the first victim and shoved him twice, causing him to fall onto the floor and his head almost struck a nearby wall.

When she thought another five-year-old boy was laughing, she got angry and “hoisted him up by the arm... and pushed him towards the wall, causing him to also fall forward onto the floor”, DPP Lau said.

She then flung two chairs into an open space on the other side of the classroom and reprimanded the two boys.

When she noticed that the first victim was walking away, she grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him back.

She also instructed him to pick up the chairs that she had thrown, and he complied.

After receiving the parent’s complaint, employees of the care service provider viewed CCTV footage taken at the centre and alerted the police.

The offender was charged in court in 2025.