SINGAPORE – A 32-year-old man, who was previously jailed for 10 years and given 10 strokes of the cane for the death of a three-year-old boy, was back in court for physically abusing a six-year-old boy who refused to sleep.

On Thursday (Feb 6), the man pleaded guilty to one charge of ill-treating a child and was sentenced by the State Courts to 24 months’ imprisonment.

A gag order was imposed by the court and none of the parties involved can be named to protect the identity of the victim.

The court heard that the man, who was working for a fragrance and flavour manufacturer at the time of the incident, and the victim’s 28-year-old mother were in a relationship.

They were living together while the woman was undergoing divorce proceedings with her then-husband.

SUSPECTED HER PARTNER WAS HARMING CHILDREN

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En, who sought the sentence imposed, said that the offence only came to light after the woman suspected that her boyfriend was causing harm to her child. 

He said her suspicions were aroused when she noticed the man hitting her son’s head with force while they were out grocery shopping.

This prompted the woman to run an internet search on her partner’s name. She discovered that he was previously jailed for 10 years and given 10 strokes of the cane for committing culpable homicide not amounting to the murder of a three-year-old boy in 2010.

The man had left the boy with bruises on his body, multiple cane and burn marks, and severe brain injury, among other injuries.

He was convicted by the High Court in 2013 for the ill-treatment of the child and was eventually released from prison on Aug 26, 2017. 

Having learnt of his past offence, the woman decided to install a closed-circuit television camera in her house on Aug 3, 2018.

THE BOY WAS SLAPPED BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO SLEEP

On Aug 16 that year, the woman was having difficulty getting her son to go to sleep and she asked the man for help.

He told the boy to follow him into the living room. About 15 minutes later, the boy returned to the room, crying. However, all he was willing to tell his mother was that the man had told him to go to bed.

Sensing there was more to this, the woman checked the footage from the camera that she had installed.

The videos, which were played in court, showed the man pushing the boy into the living room before smacking him on the back of the head. He then roughly pulled the boy towards a sofa, and jabbed a finger at the boy’s face.

The man then appeared to check the boy’s face with the light from his handphone for signs of injury, before resuming his abuse by slapping the boy’s cheek.

One video showed the man clenching his fists and using his knuckles to hit the boy between the eyes, which caused him to lurch backwards.

The boy was pliant and did not react throughout the ordeal.

When the woman confronted the man about what he had done, he claimed that he could not remember the incident. He even tried to delete the incriminating evidence which had already been saved into the woman’s phone.

“This case is tragic for two reasons,” said DPP Tay. “The victim now has to live with memory of this ordeal for the rest of his life. He was abused by a father figure, by a person who much trust was imposed on him.”

The second reason, said DPP Tay, was that the man’s earlier conviction was not enough to deter him.

“Such abhorrent conduct cannot be tolerated in society. The offences happened… barely a year after he was released,” said DPP Tay, who added that the accused’s actions were wholly unproportional to whatever transgressions the victim committed.

MOTHER OF CHILD FORGIVES

In his mitigation plea for the man, Criminal Legal Aid Scheme fellowship lawyer Ng Shi Yang said that his client’s intentions arose from wanting to discipline the child.

“He acknowledges he went overboard but his acts did not stem from malice,” said Mr Ng, who was seeking a lower sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment.

Mr Ng also told the court that the victim’s mother had forgiven the man. Moreover, she is now pregnant with his child.

In a letter submitted to the court by the victim’s mother, she wrote that she had forgiven the man as she pleaded with the judge to give him another chance. 

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said that the boy was only six years old and there were better ways to discipline a child.

He will begin serving his sentence on Feb 13 and remains out on a court bail of S$15,000.