Malaysian who allegedly sexually assaulted toddler in Singapore pre-school worked as a cook in the same school

SINGAPORE: A man accused of sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl was working as a cook at her pre-school.

Teo Guan Huat allegedly targeted the toddler in school on at least eight occasions between May 2023 and November 2023.

He is being named by The Straits Times for the first time after Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh clarified in court on Aug 22 that redacting only the names of the child and the pre-school would meet the conditions of the gag order protecting the child’s identity.

Teo will have his case sent back to pre-trial conference on Sept 8 after he disputed some of the allegations.

The Malaysian has been charged with eight counts of outrage of modesty involving a victim under 14 years of age.

He had allegedly reached into the toddler’s diaper and touched her.

Teo, who is a Singapore permanent resident, still maintains his stance to plead guilty to the charges. But he is disputing some of the details laid out by the prosecution, including the duration of one instance of the offence, and the areas of the girl’s body that he allegedly touched.

Teo has been in remand for more than a year since his arrest in 2023.

ST reported earlier that he was dismissed by his employer when the offences came to light.

On Feb 21, four women were charged over their roles in the alleged sexual assault.

Investigations revealed their alleged involvement in covering up the man’s alleged offences.

The women, aged 48, 58, 61 and 66, cannot be named due to a court-imposed gag order to protect the identity of the pre-schooler. Each of them was handed one charge of intentionally omitting information on the alleged sexual assault.

On July 16, the 66-year-old woman was given a stern warning and granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal. This means she cannot be charged again with the same offence.

The cases for the three other women are still before the courts.

A spokesperson for the Early Childhood Development Agency had earlier told ST that the four women were formerly management staff of the pre-school.

All four have since been removed from their positions.

Individuals found guilty of using criminal force to a person below 14 years old with intent to outrage modesty can be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned or subject to any combination of such punishments.

Anyone who has knowledge that certain crimes have been committed, or knows of a person’s intention to commit such crimes, must give the information to the police, barring any reasonable excuse.

Those who fail to do so can be jailed for up to six months, fined or both.

Those found guilty of obstruction of justice may be jailed for up to seven years, fined or both. – The Straits Times/ANN