Three women found guilty of covering up sexual assault of 2-year-old girl by pre-school cook

The executive director pointed out that the pre-school would be implicated if they did so – the parents and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) would have to be informed, and the police would have to speak to the staff about how long Teo had been committing those acts.

She added that the victim was asleep and might not have been affected by Teo’s actions, and suggested that they settle the matter quietly by asking Teo to resign.

When the chairwoman asked if the victim’s parents should be informed, the executive director pointed out that the school had to manage their reactions if they were informed. The executive director also said the school’s name would be tarnished, and many parents would withdraw their children from the school.

The chairwoman also asked if they wanted to cover up the issue, as terminating Teo’s employment did not prevent him from working in Singapore and committing similar offences in the future, as he was a Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia.

The vice-principal said the impact on the victim and parents would be worse if they went to the police. She also said that if she were the mother of the victim, she would rather not know what Teo had done to the child.

The principal broke down during the meeting and said she did not want the children to be withdrawn from the school.

On Nov 23, 2023, the chairwoman said she had decided not to report the matter to the police. She would dismiss Teo and consider the case closed.

The executive director spoke to Teo, who resigned from his job. She also sent a message in a group chat with the principal and vice-principal, which read: “Hopefully and prayerfully the issue is closed and we learn from this.”

The court heard that the pre-school had policies that allowed staff to inform the police of abuse by staff without management’s approval, if required by the law.

On Nov 24, 2023, the chairwoman had another discussion with the leaders of the school management committee and changed her mind. She informed the executive director, who told the other two women.

The trio decided to resign, as they feared they would not be able to cope with the fallout.

In a separate discussion, the executive director and vice-principal spoke about whether the CCTV footage could be overwritten.

On Nov 26 that year, the trio met in the office to print their resignation letters. The executive director and vice-principal tried to convince the principal to delete the CCTV footage.

Acting on orders from the executive director, the vice-principal reformatted the hard disks of the CCTV system.

The chairwoman made a police report on Dec 2, 2023, and Teo was arrested two days later.

Police officers raided the pre-school on the day of Teo’s arrest, and discovered that all three hard disks of the CCTV system had been reformatted. The footage of Teo’s offence was recovered by the police forensic team.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh sought a jail term of at least two months for the vice-principal, and a jail term of at least three months for the executive director. She said the two of them had allowed their self-interest to overshadow their legal duty to report abuse.

She added that the perpetrator, Teo, committed the offences against the children because they were unable to report them.

She said: “As adults who had access to the CCTV footage, the accused persons were the only ones in a position to speak out for these voiceless victims by reporting to the police.”

For the principal, DPP Poh sought a fine of at least $8,000 as a deterrent. She noted that the principal and the other two women were more interested in resigning and preserving their positions when they found out about Teo’s crimes.

She said the case illustrates why an early childhood educator may shun reporting sexual abuse cases.

“Amongst (the reasons) are the inability to account for the management’s lapses (in this case, failing to ensure that a male cook does not come into contact with female children) and the stress that will ensue from the fallout of such a report being made.

“From these reasons emerges a strong tendency to justify one’s failure to report. However, none of these reasons are valid excuses.”

Teo abused the children by inserting his hands into their nappies, an act that he carried out multiple times a week when the teachers were not looking.

The pre-school was handed financial penalties of $26,200 in May 2024 by the ECDA,

The three women will be sentenced on Jan 19, 2026.

For intentionally omitting information, an offender can be jailed for up to six months, fined, or both.

For engaging in conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both.