Preschool cook, 61, a S'pore PR, convicted of sexually abusing 3 girls, aged 1-2, while they napped

Teo Guan Huat, a 61-year-old former cook at a Singapore preschool, pleaded guilty on Oct. 27 to charges of outrage of modesty against three girls, all aged two years old or younger.

The prosecution is seeking a sentence of at least 10 years’ jail for the systematic sexual abuse that occurred over a period of seven months.

In court documents seen by Mothership, the accused, a Malaysian who is a Singapore permanent resident, had worked at the preschool for a year before resigning on Nov. 23, 2023 after being confronted by the school management committee.

While his primary duty was as a cook, he assisted teachers during naptime, helping to lay out mattresses and pat children to sleep.

He also escorted the children to shower.

The prosecution highlighted that he held a position of trust, which he “egregiously betrayed” to gain access to the victims.

Sexual abuse during naptime

Teo admitted to molesting the girls, whom he knew by name and were two years old or younger, by putting his hand into their diapers or under their pants and rubbing their private parts with four of his fingers.

He admitted that he committed the acts against the child victims instead of adults as the children could not speak and it would be harder to get caught.

The victims were also closer to him and would hug him when they saw him.

The accused further stated that he only committed the offending acts when the other teachers were not looking at him.

The abuse was committed multiple times weekly, estimated at about two to three times a week, from May to Nov. 16, 2023.

CCTV footage reformatted

On Nov. 16, 2023, an unnamed employee reviewed the CCTV footage of the classroom for an unrelated matter.

She saw that the accused had inserted his hand under the diaper of a two-year-old girl.

Following this, he resigned after being confronted.

The matter was then reported to the police on Dec. 2, 2023.

In the intervening period between Nov. 16 to Dec. 2, the CCTV system of the school was reformatted such that prior footage would be erased.

It was not stated who erased the footage.

Police, however, subsequently managed to recover the CCTV footage which had been erased.

The footage showed the accused constantly looking at the teachers to ensure they were not observing him.

He would also position his body, such as raising his right leg, to block the line of sight of other teachers.

On the pretext of patting one of the victims to sleep, he had molested her at least nine times over a 25-minute period.

Arrest

The police arrested the accused at his home on Dec. 4, 2023.

The accused admitted that although he had erectile dysfunction, he liked to look at female genitalia.

He claimed he had rubbed the victims’ private parts because he was single and had never had relations with a female adult.

Yet, he still wanted “to see” and he wanted “to touch”.

After the arrest, on Dec. 22, 2023, the accused was diagnosed with “paedophilic disorder” by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

The paedophilic disorder had no direct contributory link to his offence.

Sentencing

The prosecution originally sought nine years and three months’ jail and 18 strokes of the cane for Teo, saying that the accused “targeted the most vulnerable of victims” and that his “repulsive acts strike at the confidence placed in infant-care services”.

However, as the accused is 61 years old, he is not eligible for caning.

The prosecution then sought for an additional nine months' imprisonment, which brings the total to at least 10 years’ jail, in lieu of 18 strokes of caning.

The prosecution submitted that the sentence must send an "unequivocal message that the sexual exploitation of society's most vulnerable members will be met with the full force of the law".

The accused has been in remand since his arrest on Dec. 4, 2023.

The judge adjourned sentencing to Nov. 10.

Four women charged

Four women, aged between 48 and 66, who allegedly covered up the incident have been charged in February 2025.

They received between one and three charges each.

They cannot be named due to a gag order.

At least one of them appeared to have held a high-ranking staff position at the preschool.

They were each given one charge of intentionally omitting information on the sexual assault.

The charges pertained to the reformatting of the CCTV system, as well as for intentionally omitting to give any information about the alleged molest, and deleting a video clip capturing the offence from a WhatsApp chat.

All of the alleged offences took place in November 2023.

In July, 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.

Top images via LinkedIn, Unsplash