SINGAPORE — The mother of a pair of three-year-old twins suspected that her domestic helper had been handling the boys in a rough manner, so she began looking more frequently at footage from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras she had installed in her home.

One day, she saw the helper wiping one of the boys’ mouths roughly and flicking his head with her finger, among other acts. She then called the police.

On Thursday (Nov 7), Fallorina Joann Marie Gayares was sentenced to four weeks’ jail after pleading guilty to ill-treating the child. Another charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The 25-year-old Filipino maid, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded for a light sentence, saying that she had been staying at the embassy for half a year since the incident and was unable to send money home.

She had been working with the family for about a year when the incident happened on April 15. It was her first stint as a domestic helper.

When the boys’ parents were at work, she would take them home from school, feed, bathe and play with them.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that the boys’ mother told her that she would be going out for dinner with her husband that evening.

At about 6pm, the mother decided to watch the CCTV through her mobile phone application. She saw Gayares feeding her twin sons with a spoon in the living room.

While doing so, the maid wiped one of the boys’ mouths roughly with a towel, pushing his mouth upwards. She also poked the boy’s chest once.

When the boy dribbled some food onto his T-shirt, she stared at him and he flinched slightly after realising what he had done, Deputy Public Prosecutor Benedict Chan told the court.

“The accused then reached out for the victim’s left ear and pinched it, causing the victim to flinch. The accused then raised her elbow and gestured towards the victim as though she were going to hit him, causing the victim to flinch again,” the prosecutor added.

As Gayares went on to feed the other child, she leaned in close to the victim and shouted: “Swallow.” She then got up, flicked the boy’s head with her finger and said: “Come here, I change you.”

She walked out of the living room with the boy on her heels. All this happened within a minute or so.

Gayares’ employers immediately returned home and confronted her, where she confessed to what she had done.

The victim was examined at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital the next morning, where a doctor found no injuries or bruises on him.

Court documents showed that on Feb 22, Gayares also pinched and bruised one of the boys’ upper thighs.

For ill-treating a child under the Children and Young Persons Act, she could have been jailed for up to four years, fined up to S$4,000 or both.