Man admits to hitting 9-year-old son over homework mistakes
Enraged that his nine-year-old son made mistakes in a homework, he grabbed a hanger and attacked the boy repeatedly.
The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the boy’s identity, pleaded guilty on Thursday (14 June) in the State Courts to one charge of ill-treating a child.
On 4 August last year, the boy asked his father for help with some questions for his homework when they were in their house. The father, however, asked his son to figure them out.
The boy produced several answers but they were wrong. This angered the father who took a plastic hanger with the intention of hitting the boy.
The boy begged to be let off but his father yanked him off the chair, causing him to fall to the ground. The father then grabbed his son’s left leg and lifted him upside down before hitting him on the buttocks and legs with full strength.
Lying on the ground, the boy told his father he didn’t know the answers to the questions. This further angered the father who kicked the boy forcefully twice and shouted at him, “You know why you don’t know, you’re stupid!”
The father then threw the hanger at his son twice and kicked him once more. He chased his son into a bedroom and hit him on the buttocks with his hand.
Around the time of the incident, a person called 999 to report about a suspected case of child abuse.
The boy told his mother about the incident after she returned home. The mother retrieved footage of the incident, which was captured on a CCTV camera installed in their house.
The mother, who was listed in court documents as the complainant, brought her son to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital where he was hospitalised for three days. Medical reports show that the boy suffered from bruises on his back, right forearm and left buttock.
The man, who is undergoing divorce proceedings with his wife, will be sentenced on 12 July. He faces up to four years’ jail, or a fine up to $4,000, or both.
