A 61-year-old Malaysian who’s also a Singapore permanent resident and works as a cook pleaded guilty yesterday (27 October) to three counts of molesting minors, with another five charges to be taken into consideration during sentencing.
Teo Guan Huat had been working at the preschool for about a year before quitting in late 2023, after his disturbing actions were uncovered and he was asked to leave by members of the school’s management committee.
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His victims were all under two years old
Between May and November 2023, Teo repeatedly molested victims two to three times a week, making sure to do so only when other teachers weren’t looking. His victims were between one and two years old at the time of the offences, as reported by CNA.
In addition to his duties as a cook, Teo also helped escort the children to another teacher for showers and assisted during naptime, laying out mattresses in the nap room and patting the children to sleep.
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On 16 November 2023, an anonymous staff member reviewing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage for an unrelated issue discovered footage of Teo slipping his hand under the diaper of a 2-year-old girl.
In one particular incident, while assisting with naptime, he molested the girl at least nine times over the course of about an hour.
However, the case was only reported to the police in early December 2023. By then, the school’s CCTV system had been reformatted, erasing earlier recordings, which led to three women being charged in connection with the matter.
He was diagnosed with paedophilic disorder
Police were able to recover some of the deleted footage, which showed several of the incidents. Teo was arrested on 4 December 2023 and later diagnosed with paedophilic disorder.
He admitted to molesting three girls, whom he personally knew. He claimed he suffered from erectile dysfunction and committed the offences because he was single and had never been intimate with a woman. Reports also revealed that he targeted children instead of adults, believing they couldn’t speak and would be less likely to expose him.
Prosecutors pushed for a 10-year jail sentence, describing the victims as extremely vulnerable and calling it one of the most disturbing cases of sexual abuse to happen in a preschool.
Teo guan huat
Defence lawyer Revi Shanker said his client was remorseful, clarifying that Teo wasn’t a preschool teacher but a cook. He admitted that what Teo did was “very, very wrong,” but questioned why the school allowed him to help care for the children despite being short-staffed.
“I’m not trying to justify his actions, but first and foremost, he works as a cook. We didn’t know he had these issues (paedophilic tendencies), and I believe the school didn’t know either,” the lawyer said.
For each count of molesting a minor, Teo faces up to five years in jail and a fine. However, he cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.
Also read: 30yo Salesman with Dwarfism Claims Trial to Sexually Abusing a 5yo Girl at Johor Shopping Mall
