Former welfare officer gets three weeks’ jail for child abuse

SINGAPORE — Sentencing a former welfare officer at Pertapis Children’s Home to three weeks’ jail for ill-treating the children under his care, a district judge today (Oct 13) took the voluntary welfare organisation to task for allowing the abuse to go on unreported for one year.

Muhammad Abdul Gani, 27, who was also a religious teacher at the home, pleaded guilty last month to four charges of child abuse in 2012 and 2013. He had used corporal punishment on eight children, aged four to 10, which was not allowed under the home’s protocol. Six similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

He had grabbed two of the children, aged four and seven at that time, by their heads and lifted them off the ground. On a separate occasion, he also locked one of them in a cupboard. Other charges which he was convicted of include kicking a chair that a 10 year-old girl was standing on and causing her to fall. He also pushed another 10 year-old girl after she refused to stop whistling when he asked her to, causing her to knock her head against a cupboard.

The home was set up in 1991 as a safe haven for children aged between four to 12 who are typically from dysfunctional families, and were abused or neglected. Many of these children are referred by the Juvenile Court, Family Services Centres, or the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

Pressing for a jail term of four weeks, the prosecution had charged that Muhammad committed a “gross breach of trust and authority” in his capacity as a religious teacher, and had “total disregard” for the home’s instructions.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kavita Uthrapathy also pointed out that the victims were children who were vulnerable. The offences were also hard to detect and they were committed over a long period of time, she said.

However, District Judge (DJ) Christopher Goh said he was not convinced that all these were aggravating factors. In particular, too much weight was given to the argument that the instances of abuse were difficult to detect. “Could it not be said that the home’s oversight ... left much to be desired, in light of the fact that the incidents took place over the course of a year, and that it took a complaint by an ex-employee to the police before these offences came to light?” DJ Goh said.

Still, he agreed with the prosecution that Muhammad had breached the trust and authority conferred to him as a religious teacher, especially because his victims were vulnerable children who were sent to the home precisely because they were at risk.

The judge said he gave Muhammad the benefit of the doubt that some of the offences were committed as he “may have over-reacted to the supposed transgressions by the children”. He recognised that employees at such homes have a “huge burden and responsibility placed on them” but said the children’s welfare should be of “paramount interest”.

“Even more so in this case where they are already disadvantaged, coming from dysfunctional families ... Therefore, where incidents such as these do occur, the persons involved must be brought to task and if found guilty, they should be punished severely,” he said.

Muhammad could have been fined up to S$4,000 and/or jailed up to four years for each charge.

Another Pertapis employee, social service assistant Joanne Joy Coloma, 29, has also been charged for child abuse. Her case is still before the court.

In a statement released after investigations commenced in February last year, the MSF said it had directed the home to work with the ministry to review its systems, processes, practices and supervision.

The home was also suspended from taking in new residents. This was lifted on Dec 18 last year, but it cannot have more than 50 residents. The home could not be reached for comment at press time.