Babysitter jailed six weeks for slapping infant, lodging false police report
When a 15-month-old infant spat out his cough medicine, his babysitter became angry and slapped him on the left side of his face.
Upon seeing the redness on the baby’s face, the 41-year-old Singaporean woman decided to lodge a police report, lying that an unknown man had slapped the child.
On Thursday (21 March), the babysitter was jailed six weeks after she pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to the baby, and one count of giving false information to a public servant. Another count of giving false information to the police was taken into consideration for her sentencing. The babysitter cannot be named to protect the identity of the baby.
The babysitter had been caring for the baby since November 2017. The infant’s father would drop him off at the babysitter’s house every weekday, from 8am to 8pm.
On the morning of 24 January 2018, the baby was at the babysitter’s house and had just finished his meal. As he was suffering from a cough, he had to be fed medicine three to four times a day.
As the babysitter measured the dosage, the baby began to cry. The babysitter fed the baby the medicine but he spat it out.
Angered, the babysitter slapped the left side of the baby’s face. The baby stopped crying and ate the second dose that was given to him.
While washing the baby’s face in the toilet, the babysitter noticed the left side of his face had turned red. She decided to file a false police report.
A few hours later, she informed the police to state that she was pushing the boy with her foster daughter earlier that day at a sheltered walkway when an unknown man walked towards her. She alleged that while she was talking to her foster daughter, she heard a smacking sound and saw the unknown man run past them. She then noticed a red mark on the left side of the baby’s face.
Barely an hour later, however, the woman admitted to lodging a false police report. She changed her version of the story by lying that the baby had become injured after falling from a bed.
Later that night, the baby was examined at a hospital where he was found to have multiple abrasions on the left side of his face.
The babysitter only admitted to her offence on 18 July 2018, six months after the incident.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Pavithra Ramkumar sought a jail term of at least four weeks for the charge of voluntarily causing hurt, and six weeks’ jail for the charge of giving false information to a public servant.
The babysitter could have been jailed up to a year, or fined up to $5,000 for giving false information to a public servant and jailed up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for the charge of voluntarily causing hurt.
More Singapore stories:
Vietnamese ride-hailing app FastGo to launch in Singapore in April
Maid convicted of stealing more than $30,000 of items from Changi Airport Group chairman’s family
Man, 25, arrested for impersonating police officer in attempt to enter victim’s home
