https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/c...n-stab-special-needs-boys-head-multiple-times
singapore
The 45-year-old offender will be sentenced on June 22.
PHOTO: The Straits Times
PUBLISHED ON April 29, 2026 4:27 PM BY Shaffiq Alkhatib
SINGAPORE – For no apparent reason, an early intervention teacher at a childcare centre used a pen to repeatedly stab the head of a six-year-old special needs boy, causing him to sustain several wounds.
The woman later lied to the victim’s parents and the centre’s principal that the boy was injured after using toys to hit himself.
Upon the mother’s insistence, the principal reviewed CCTV footage, which revealed the offence.
The 45-year-old offender, who had earlier pleaded guilty to ill-treating the child, was initially expected to be sentenced on Tuesday (April 28). She will now be sentenced on June 22.
She cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity, and is no longer working at the centre, which also cannot be identified.
The child has autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and could speak only one word at a time when the incident occurred in 2022.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh said the woman had been an early childhood educator for about 10 years.
She was the victim’s form teacher and was the only adult in the classroom at around 3pm on Nov 16, 2022.
When she saw the boy walking towards a table where some stationery was kept, she picked up a pen, rushed towards him and stabbed his head several times with it.
DPP Koh said: "During this time, the victim moved backwards away from her, crouched with one knee on the ground and subsequently fell backwards with his back near a mat with his legs kicking, while the accused continued using the pen to stab his head."
After that, the offender left the boy on the mat and walked away.
Fearing the repercussions of her actions, she later sent a photograph of his injuries to a group chat where his parents and the centre’s principal were in, claiming he had used toys to hit himself.
The woman also called the victim’s mother and repeated the same lie.
Refusing to believe the offender, the mother asked the principal to look into the matter.
The offence came to light after the principal viewed CCTV footage from a camera in the centre.
On Nov 17, 2022, the principal told the mother about the incident and alerted the police.
The offender’s employment at the centre was terminated that day.
The mother took her son to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he was found to have three abrasions on his scalp and left eyebrow ridge.
He was later given nine days' medical leave. The victim still has a scar on his left forehead, the court heard.
According to his mother, the incident had left him traumatised and he would often cry in the first three weeks, especially at night for no apparent reason.
He became more needy and his parents had to spend more time and effort to care for him.
His appetite was also affected for about two to three months.
DPP Koh has urged the court to sentence the offender to around two years' jail.
Stressing that the victim was an especially vulnerable child at the time of the incident, she added: "The accused had inflicted not one, but multiple blows... directed at a vulnerable part of the victim’s body – his head and face.
“There was no evidence of the victim provoking or frustrating her. She had abused the victim for no reason at all."
singapore
Childcare centre teacher used pen to stab special needs boy's head multiple times
The 45-year-old offender will be sentenced on June 22.
PHOTO: The Straits Times
PUBLISHED ON April 29, 2026 4:27 PM BY Shaffiq Alkhatib
SINGAPORE – For no apparent reason, an early intervention teacher at a childcare centre used a pen to repeatedly stab the head of a six-year-old special needs boy, causing him to sustain several wounds.
The woman later lied to the victim’s parents and the centre’s principal that the boy was injured after using toys to hit himself.
Upon the mother’s insistence, the principal reviewed CCTV footage, which revealed the offence.
The 45-year-old offender, who had earlier pleaded guilty to ill-treating the child, was initially expected to be sentenced on Tuesday (April 28). She will now be sentenced on June 22.
She cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity, and is no longer working at the centre, which also cannot be identified.
The child has autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and could speak only one word at a time when the incident occurred in 2022.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh said the woman had been an early childhood educator for about 10 years.
She was the victim’s form teacher and was the only adult in the classroom at around 3pm on Nov 16, 2022.
When she saw the boy walking towards a table where some stationery was kept, she picked up a pen, rushed towards him and stabbed his head several times with it.
DPP Koh said: "During this time, the victim moved backwards away from her, crouched with one knee on the ground and subsequently fell backwards with his back near a mat with his legs kicking, while the accused continued using the pen to stab his head."
After that, the offender left the boy on the mat and walked away.
Fearing the repercussions of her actions, she later sent a photograph of his injuries to a group chat where his parents and the centre’s principal were in, claiming he had used toys to hit himself.
The woman also called the victim’s mother and repeated the same lie.
Refusing to believe the offender, the mother asked the principal to look into the matter.
The offence came to light after the principal viewed CCTV footage from a camera in the centre.
On Nov 17, 2022, the principal told the mother about the incident and alerted the police.
The offender’s employment at the centre was terminated that day.
The mother took her son to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he was found to have three abrasions on his scalp and left eyebrow ridge.
He was later given nine days' medical leave. The victim still has a scar on his left forehead, the court heard.
According to his mother, the incident had left him traumatised and he would often cry in the first three weeks, especially at night for no apparent reason.
He became more needy and his parents had to spend more time and effort to care for him.
His appetite was also affected for about two to three months.
DPP Koh has urged the court to sentence the offender to around two years' jail.
Stressing that the victim was an especially vulnerable child at the time of the incident, she added: "The accused had inflicted not one, but multiple blows... directed at a vulnerable part of the victim’s body – his head and face.
“There was no evidence of the victim provoking or frustrating her. She had abused the victim for no reason at all."
