SINGAPORE, Oct 7 — A woman was sentenced to seven months in jail by a district court today for physically and emotionally abusing her stepson, including hitting him on the back of his head with a ceramic mug and calling him a “prostitute’s child”.
The 45-year-old, who is a former teacher and now a full-time tutor, was found guilty of three counts of ill-treating a child under the Children and Young Persons Act.
Another two similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
She cannot be named due to a court order to protect the victim’s identity.
The woman and her daughter lived with the boy and his father, who had custody of him after divorcing the boy’s mother.
The abuse started in November 2016 when the boy was 11-years-old, and carried on until it was uncovered in May the following year when a relative saw injuries on the boy and told his paternal aunt.
Offences were difficult to detect
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Daphne Lim said that there were numerous aggravating factors in this case.
For instance, after the aunt filed a police report, the authorities intervened and the family was referred to the Safe and Strong Families programme in October 2017.
The programme aims to provide families with home-based intervention so that parents can better provide a nurturing home for their children.
The woman, however, did not cooperate with the programme’s workers and remained insistent that the boy was in the wrong.
As a result, the family left the programme prematurely and the abuse continued.
DPP Lim added that implements, such as a ceramic mug, were used and the injuries to the boy were not minor with the victim having sustained broken skin and bruises.
“The offences were difficult to detect. This is why deterrence is important because abuse takes place in the privacy of a home and kept hidden from the public,” said the prosecutor who sought a custodial sentence.
“Young children like the victim are wholly dependent on the caregiver and would be unwilling to report abuse to authorities.”
The woman had also said that she could never love the child as her own and was adamant that the punishment she meted out was acceptable because of his behaviour.
“The effects on the victim can be seen...where (he) internalised that he deserved the punishment. He was noted to have poor self-esteem...pervasive feelings of failure, and an inability to acknowledge and accept compliments,” she said.
Fine inappropriate given how serious offences were: Judge
Amarjit Singh Sidhu, the woman’s defence lawyer, said his client was remorseful and that the boy, who is now 15, had written a letter forgiving his stepmother.
The victim also indicated that he wants to continue living with his stepmother and his father.
Singh, who sought a fine of S$4,000 for his client said a jail term would further alienate the mother-child relationship.
In delivering his sentence, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said a fine would be wholly inappropriate as there were very serious offences involved.
“Unfortunately, in these cases, accused persons would generally say in mitigation these offences were committed because they want to discipline the child.”
He said such an excuse is untenable given the injuries, the violence involved, and the acts committed.
As an educator, the woman should know what disciplining a child would mean. Yet, she went beyond that to commit the offences, he said.
District Judge Chay granted the woman permission to defer serving her sentence until Nov 4 so that she can continue teaching her students who are sitting for the GCE O- and N-level examinations. — TODAY
