Domestic worker gets jail for punching non-verbal autistic child at least 23 times

Domestic worker gets jail for punching non-verbal autistic child at least 23 times The 29-year-old woman also recorded videos of the family’s three children naked in the toilet and sent them to her husband “to show him how mischievous the victims were”. SINGAPORE: A domestic worker was sentenced to three years’ jail on Friday (Oct 30) for repeatedly abusing a four-year-old autistic child in her care, including punching him at least 23 times. She was also punished for recording obscene videos of the family’s three children, including the boy’s seven-year-old sister and one-year-old brother, and sending them to her husband. The 29-year-old woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her victims, kicked the four-year-old boy’s head twice in a separate incident. About a month after she started working for the family, she also used a handheld shower head to spray water directly onto the one-year-old boy’s face for 16 seconds, causing him to flinch and cry. The woman was arrested in March after her employer found videos and photographs of the abuse and his naked children on her phone. Investigations uncovered four videos and two still images of the children naked in the unit’s toilet. She had sent two of the videos and both images to her husband “to show him how mischievous the victims were”, the court heard. The Indonesian national started working for the household in January. According to court documents, she abused the boy because she was feeling tired and frustrated from caring for him. Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamed Riasudeen asked for 35 to 41 months’ jail for the woman, highlighting that she repeatedly punched the boy even as he was trying to shield himself. She removed his hands to continue the assault and the video she recorded showed that she was using a considerable amount of force, he said. The boy was non-verbal and “entirely unable” to seek help or report the abuse to his parents, which made him "more defenceless" than another child his age, the prosecution stressed. The woman's decision to record the abuse demonstrated a “chilling indifference” to the victim's pain and suffering, Mr Riasudeen said. Feeling tired and frustrated from caring for the boy did not justify her actions, he added. While the prosecution and defence agreed that the videos of the naked children were not taken with any intention for sexual gratification, Mr Riasudeen argued that the fact that the woman's position as their caregiver was an aggravating factor. He also noted that her husband could have forwarded the videos to other people. The woman’s lawyer, Mr Ariffin Sha, who represented her pro bono under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, argued for two years and 10.5 months' jail for her. He did not dispute the prosecution’s sentencing arguments for the abuse charges, but argued that her obscene videos of the children were not the “archetypal offence” for sexual gratification. Mr Ariffin, of Shehzhadee Law Corporation, said the woman wanted to place her unqualified apology to the victims and their family on record. Despite the stress and her two requests to transfer out of the job before these incidents, the woman recognised that these factors do not excuse her actions, he added. Laying out the woman’s sentence, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz highlighted that the child was non-verbal – he could not speak for himself, ask for help, or tell others about the abuse. “There are few betrayals of trust more disturbing than the abuse of a child by the very person entrusted with his care,” she said, noting that this case was particularly troubling because the main victim was a child with special needs. The judge acknowledged the physical and emotional demands of caregiving but stressed that such difficulties could never justify abusing a child. “Stress is not a license for violence nor is frustration an excuse for cruelty,” she said. The sentence would have been “considerably higher” if there were evidence of physical injury to the victims, the judge added. [Image text:] STATECOURTS