A Singapore district court has sentenced a 61-year-old Malaysian man to a jail term of nine years, four months and seven weeks for molesting three toddlers while working at a preschool in the island-state.
Teo Guan Huat, a Singapore permanent resident, pleaded guilty to three charges of sexually abusing the girls, who were aged one and two, The Straits Times reported.
Five other similar charges were taken into account during his sentencing today.
Teo was charged with slipping his hand into the diapers of the toddlers while they were asleep in the preschool’s nap room between May and November 2023, when he was employed as a cook there.
He is said to have committed the offences several times a week when the teachers at the preschool were not looking.
The case came to light after a staff member discovered CCTV footage in November 2023 showing Teo committing the offences. Investigators later recovered earlier deleted footage from the system.
Teo had been working with the preschool for about one year before quitting in November 2023 when his offences were exposed.
He was arrested on Dec 4, 2023, after police restored the deleted footage, and charged him in court two days later.
Four members of the school’s management have also been charged for allegedly failing to report the incidents or for providing incomplete information to the authorities.
District judge Vince Gui described the offences as “abhorrent” and “an abuse of trust”, as the victims were placed under Teo’s care and were defenceless.
The court heard that while Teo’s duties did not involve childcare, he occasionally escorted the children to their showers and supervised them during nap time.
While Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health determined that Teo suffered from paedophilic disorder, prosecutors said the condition did not impair his judgment or self-control.
Teo also told the court he had erectile dysfunction and had never been in a relationship, saying he committed the offences because he “wanted to see and touch”.
