A 37-year-old former infant care teacher in Singapore was sentenced to 14 months in prison on July 8, 2026, after pleading guilty to ill-treating a one-year-old girl under her care. The woman, whose identity is protected by a court-imposed gag order, was also found to have abused two other infants, aged eight months and ten months, though these charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The incidents occurred between September 23 and September 25, 2024, at a preschool where the woman was employed from 2022 until October 2024. On September 23, she force-fed the one-year-old girl milk from a bottle until the child vomited, and slapped her head and back when the child cried. Three days later, an informant reported the abuse, leading to a review of CCTV footage that revealed similar rough handling of the other two infants. The woman was arrested in November 2025.
The court emphasized the vulnerability of children and the breach of trust by caregivers, noting that such actions exhibited a high degree of callousness. The maximum penalty for ill-treating a child under the Children and Young Persons Act is eight years' imprisonment, a fine of up to S$8,000, or both.