Mother, 27, admits assaulting 23-month-old son, causing him brain damage
SINGAPORE — A mother of three slapped her middle child so forcefully that the 23-month-old boy fell and hit his head against the leg of a metal table in March last year, a court heard.
The toddler had a broken skull and bleeding in the brain, and was semi-conscious.
The 27-year-old mother only called for an ambulance some 10 to 15 minutes later, at the urging of a friend. She didn’t follow the child to hospital.
At the State Courts on Friday (10 May), the mother pleaded guilty to two charges of causing grievous hurt and one count of ill treating a child.
She cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity.
Strained relationship with mother
The mother lived apart from her children’s fathers. She had care over all three children. At the time, the eldest child was 4 years old while the youngest was 1 month old.
The middle child had a strained relationship with the mother, the court heard. When he was 21 months old, he was assessed to have mild global developmental delay, likely due to social deprivation.
“As a result of his slower development, the accused would frequently lose her temper with the victim,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Grace Chua.
On one occasion, angry that he did not listen to her instructions, the mother punched him more than five times on his chest.
On another occasion, she asked the boy to go to the toilet as she needed to bathe him but he refused.
“The accused was frustrated with the victim as her youngest child was needing her attention then. She then dragged the victim and yanked on his left arm forcefully when doing so,” said DPP Chua.
There was a loud “crack” sound, but the boy didn’t dare to cry out loud despite the pain. There was a bump and swelling, and the mother massaged the arm.
Played with faeces
On 25 March last year, the mother bathed the boy and put on a diaper for him.
Shortly after, she saw him digging into his nappy and playing with his faeces. The mother slapped the victim hard across the right cheek.
But the boy continued to reach into his diaper and play with his faeces.
The mother then slapped him hard on the left cheek. He fell sideways to the ground and his head hit against the leg of a metal table.
The boy cried loudly and his body started to shake violently.
The mother thought he was suffering from fits and placed his body facing upwards in her lap and tried to massage him with some oil. But the boy was barely responsive and semi-conscious.
Brain damage
The mother tried to wake the boy several times to no avail. She called a friend for advice as she was afraid that her children would be taken away from her if the authorities were alerted to the incident, the court heard. Her friend urged her to call for an ambulance.
At the hospital, the boy was found to have multiple bruises across his head and back. The bruises were caused over different times. He also had a broken skull and bleeding in the brain, and underwent urgent surgery.
He was also found with a fracture in the lower end of the left upper arm bone. This was likely to have been caused by twisting force to the left arm, when the mother yanked it two to three weeks earlier.
As a result of his severe brain injury, the boy was found to have cerebral palsy - a movement disorder - and his developmental age was assessed to be that of a 6 month old.
As of 25 January this year, the now three-year-old boy has not recovered fully from his injuries. He is still partially fed through an artificial external opening into the stomach.
The mother will be sentenced at a later date. Three other charges of ill treating a child and one count of giving false information to a police officer will be considered in her sentencing.
For causing grievous hurt, she faces up to 10 years’ jail along with a fine per charge.
The maximum penalty for ill treating a child is a fine of up to $4,000 and up to 4 years’ jail.
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