Molestation of toddlers at pre-school: ECDA fines school $26.2k, bans 3 employees from sector

SINGAPORE - The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has handed financial penalties to a pre-school and restricted the enrolment of new children after its former cook molested three toddlers at the school.

ECDA has also taken action against four management staff members, including banning three of them from working in the pre-school sector.

In a statement on Oct 29, ECDA said its investigations into the safety procedures of the school found multiple breaches which compromised children’s safety.

This comes after pre-school cook Teo Guan Huat, 61, admitted on Oct 27 to

sexually assaulting three girls aged one to two while they napped

at the school between May and November 2023.

His crimes were caught on the school’s CCTV system, but the footage was erased, and the police were alerted only weeks later.

The pre-school cannot be named due to a court-imposed gag order to protect the victims’ identities.

ECDA imposed $26,200 in financial penalties on the pre-school in May 2024. The agency also restricted all new enrolments there and shortened the school’s licence tenure from 36 months to six months.

ECDA also directed the pre-school to submit a corrective action plan to ensure the safety of the children on its premises, which the school submitted in June 2024.

ECDA said: “To ensure that the pre-school’s proposed corrective measures and standard operating procedures are implemented well and sustained over time, the pre-school’s licence was shortened in May 2024 to six months, and their licence tenure has been kept at six months at subsequent licence renewals, to ensure that corrective measures they have put in place are effective.

“We reserve the right to not renew the pre-school’s licence if warranted.”

In February 2025, four employees of the pre-school were charged with intentionally omitting information on the incidents. The pre-school operator has removed all four employees from their posts.

One of them was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal by the courts in July 2025 and was given a stern warning.

The remaining three staff members were also charged over their alleged involvement in tampering with evidence.

The agency said: “As court proceedings involving the remaining three staff (members) are still ongoing, ECDA is unable to provide further comments on the alleged offences at this juncture.”

Aside from the four management staff members, ECDA said it also took another four teaching staff members to task for failing to exercise vigilance in supervising the children.

One employee was issued a stern reminder, and the other three were issued warnings.

Staff issued with warnings must declare the warning, which will be taken into consideration when they seek re-employment in the pre-school sector within two years.

ECDA said: “Regulatory lapses that compromise children’s safety and well-being in pre-schools are not acceptable. ECDA will take firm actions against pre-school operators and staff who are found guilty of not fulfilling their duty of care to the children under their charge.”

All pre-school operators are bound by the Early Childhood Development Centres Act and Regulations to establish the necessary systems and processes, to ensure that children enrolled at their centres are safe and well, added ECDA.

This includes obtaining ECDA’s approval before deploying any non-teaching staff as programme helpers to assist in activities involving children, and ensuring that there is close supervision when programme helpers assist with routine tasks involving children in the pre-school.

“To ensure that all staff working in pre-schools, including non-teaching staff, are fit to work with young children, ECDA will conduct checks to assess that individuals do not pose a risk to children’s safety or have been barred from working in the pre-school sector, before ECDA approves their deployment.

“Pre-schools are also expected to have their own procedures to recruit persons who are suitable to work with or around young children,” said the ECDA spokesman.

The prosecution called Teo’s case one of the most horrendous acts of sexual abuse committed in a pre-school in Singapore and sought at least 10 years’ jail for him.

On Nov 16, 2023, a school employee viewed CCTV footage of Teo putting his hand into a child’s diapers to molest her.

He was confronted by members of the school management committee and was asked to leave on Nov 23, 2023.

A police report was made on Dec 2, 2023, weeks after Teo’s acts came to light. It was not stated in court who made the police report and why there was a delay.

The prosecution said that from the time Teo’s acts were exposed in November to when the police were notified, the CCTV system had been reformatted and footage was erased.

Investigators managed to recover it, and Teo was arrested on Dec 4, 2023.

He will be sentenced on Nov 10, 2025.

In August 2023, ECDA announced that the 

installation of

CCTV cameras in all pre-schools would be mandatory

from July 2024.

The agency must also be notified within 24 hours if there is an incident involving the health and safety or mismanagement of a child.