SINGAPORE: Jail sentences were given on Jan 19 (Monday) to the vice-principal and executive director of a preschool where three children between the ages of 1 and 2 years old were molested by a cook working at the school.
The school officials have since resigned.
The former vice principal, 49, was given a jail sentence for three months and two weeks, while the former executive director was given a four-month sentence.
Last month, three senior officials from the school admitted that they had chosen not to report the actions of Teo Guan Huat, 61. Teo pleaded guilty to having molested the young children and received a jail sentence of nine years in November.
In announcing the former school officials’ sentences, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz noted the particular vulnerability of the young children who were molested, as well as the deep betrayal of trust that had been placed in the officials. She added that in covering up the molestation of the young children, they had acted according to their own self-interest.
CNA quoted the judge as saying that the officials “trampled on parents’ legitimate expectation that the preschool’s leadership would act as vigilant custodians of their children’s safety and well-being.”
The preschool principal, 62, who was the third official who had pleaded guilty to the cover-up in December, will be sentenced at a later date.
Read related: Ex-preschool teacher pleads guilty to kicking 4-year-old girl, leaving bruise
Horrendous abuse
In October, the prosecution called Teo’s case one of the worst of its kind in Singapore’s history.
While Teo, a Malaysian citizen and a Singapore permanent resident, worked as a cook for the preschool, he also had other duties which involved putting the students down for their nap. On Nov 16, 2023, the former vice-principal saw Teo put his hand under the diaper of a two-year-old student. He was confronted by the school’s management committee and resigned a week later.
The school, however, failed to report Teo’s offences until early December, after the CCTV system of the school was reformatted, and evidence of his molestation was erased.
The police were later able to retrieve the footage, and when they arrested Teo, he admitted that he had molested three children in all.
The decision to reformat the cameras and erase evidence had been agreed upon by the former executive director and the vice-principal due to worries about the implications for the school. According to a CNA report, the two officials exerted pressure on the principal to go along with their scheme.
While the chairwoman of the school initially said she would not file a police report, she later changed her mind.
The school was fined S$26,200 by the Early Childhood Development Agency. Its new enrollments have also been restricted, and its license tenure, originally three years, was shortened to half a year. /TISG
