Ex-student care officer gets 26 weeks' jail for ill-treating child

Court Correspondent A former student care officer was sentenced to 26 weeks' jail on Aug 23 for ill-treating a five-year-old boy at a kindergarten after she spotted him playing with water at a sink.

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

CCTV cameras captured the 54-year-old Singaporean woman committing the offence on Feb 15, 2022, and she resigned two days later.

On July 2, she pleaded guilty to one count of ill-treating a child.

Details about her and the kindergarten cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect the victim's identity.

At the time of the offence, the boy was enrolled in the kindergarten's childcare programme and would go there every weekday from noon to around 6.30pm.

The offender was tasked to take care of the children.

On the day of the offence, she saw the boy and another child playing at a sink in the classroom.