Cook in pre-school accused of reaching into toddler's diaper and touching her, 4 women charged for cover-up
Andrew Wong
The Straits Times
Aug 22, 2025
The court has lifted a gag order on the identity of a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a two-year-old girl at her pre-school.
Teo Guan Huat, 60, who was then working as a cook at the pre-school, is accused of reaching into the toddler's diaper and touching her on at least eight occasions between May and November 2023.
The Malaysian was arrested and has been in remand since December 2023.
Teo, who is a Singapore permanent resident, was charged with eight counts of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a victim under 14 years of age.
He had been expected to plead guilty on Aug 22, but has disputed some of the details of the allegations, including the duration of one instance of the offence, and the areas of the girl's body that he allegedly touched.
His case will now be sent back to pre-trial conference on Sept 8.
A gag order had earlier been imposed on the case to protect the child's identity. However, on Aug 22, Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh clarified in court that redacting only the names of the child and the pre-school would meet the conditions of the gag order.
The Straits Times reported earlier that Teo was dismissed by his employer when the alleged offences came to light.
Four women had also been charged over their alleged roles in covering up the incident.
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. On Feb 21, 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 other three women are still before the courts.
A spokesperson for the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) 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 on 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.
