Former pre-school teacher accused of ill-treating girl, 2, says police did not explain charge

SINGAPORE – A former pre-school teacher accused of ill-treating a 2-year-old girl has claimed in court that she did not understand the charge she is currently facing because of translation issues.

Chinese national Wu Jiaying said through her lawyer, Mr Daniel Atticus Xu, that Senior Staff Sergeant Chang Shi Min had also failed to explain the relevant provisions in the Children and Young Persons Act that she was being investigated under.

The 31-year-old, who is facing one charge of ill-treating the child, was caught allegedly in the act by the pre-school’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) system.

Although the prosecution and defence had agreed to a statement of facts that was read out on the first day of the trial, Mr Xu raised issues with the police investigation process on July 2.

He said that Senior Staff Sgt Chang had failed to translate the contents of the charge in verbatim to his client when the statement was read back to Wu.

The lawyer said the officer also did not allow 15 to 30 minutes for his client to digest the offence she was charged with.

Senior Staff Sgt Chang said she did not rush Wu, and added that she had translated the charge to Wu in simple Mandarin.

Mr Xu suggested to the police officer, who said her highest academic qualification for Chinese was N level, that there may have been a communication breakdown between her and Wu while she was translating the charge to her.

“I disagree. When I read out the charge to her, she said she understood it, and she acknowledged it,” said the officer.

Senior Staff Sgt Chang was the second police officer to be cross-examined by Mr Xu.

On July 1, the lawyer had asked the investigating officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police Francis Phua Tien Soon, if he was aware that the victim suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo interjected when Mr Xu made this claim. He said that there was no evidence the child has special needs and questioned the relevance.

Wu is accused of inflicting unnecessary physical pain and suffering to a two-year-old girl at a pre-school on May 11, 2022.

Among other things, she is alleged to have grabbed the girl by her shoulder and shaken her violently.

There is a gag order on the identity of victim and the location of the incident.

Court documents show that Wu was employed as a Chinese teacher at the centre. On the day of the alleged incident, she was scheduled to teach a Nursery 1 class together with another teacher.

CCTV footage played in court shows an adult using force on a child. At one point, the adult can be seen dragging the child to a comer of a classroom before she repeatedly jabs the minor in the forehead with her finger.

The incident came to light when the victim’s mother noticed a scratch on her daughter’s face and alerted the principal of the pre-school.

The principal then viewed the CCTV footage and spoke to the director of the school before police were alerted. Wu’s employment was terminated on May 12, 2022.

Wu’s trial continues on July 3, with the pre-school’s principal expected to take the stand.