Teacher jailed for failing to protect toddler from abuse

She saw pre-school colleague abusing girl under their care but did not intervene

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

A pre-school teacher who saw her female colleague abusing a one-year-old girl under their care but did not intervene was sentenced to 14 days' jail on April 23.

The 29-year-old Chinese national pleaded guilty on April 10 to one count of failing to take steps to protect the child from being abused by a 30-year-old fellow pre-school teacher.

The older woman is a Singaporean and her case is pending.

The parties involved in this case cannot be named as there is a gag order on the witnesses, including the older woman.

Before handing out the sentence, District Judge James Elisha Lee said: "The clear overriding sentencing consideration in this case is that of general deterrence."

Referring to the accused's acquiescence of her colleague's behaviour, the judge said it represents "a degree of complicity on the accused's part".

He added: "By doing nothing, as opposed to making an unsuccessful attempt to intervene, the accused was culpable for the abuse the victim was subjected to... albeit her culpability would have been lower than that of (the older woman).">

Judge Lee also said that very young children, like the victim, are among the most vulnerable members of society.