Pre-school cook with erectile dysfunction inserted hands into diapers of girls aged 1 to 2
Nadine Chua
The Straits Times
Oct 27, 2025
For seven months, a man who worked as a cook at a pre-school would insert his hands into the diapers of three girls, aged one to two, and sexually assault them multiple times a week.
On Oct 27, Teo Guan Huat, 61, was convicted of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of the toddlers from May to November 2023.
The prosecution sought at least 10 years' jail for Teo, calling it one of the most horrendous acts of sexual abuse committed in a pre-school in Singapore.
In admitting to the crimes, Teo said he had erectile dysfunction and had never been in a relationship, and that he "wanted to see and wanted to touch", the court heard.
Teo also said he committed the acts on children as they could not speak about what he had done to them, and believed it would be harder to get caught.
The victims and the pre-school cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the children's identities.
Teo, who is Malaysian and a Singapore permanent resident, had worked for a year at the pre-school before he resigned in November 2023 when his acts came to light.
Despite being employed as a cook there, Teo had helped to escort children for their showers, set up their mattresses and pat them to sleep.
He was not supposed to do so as these were not the duties he had been employed for, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi.
Teo sexually assaulted the girls in the pre-school's nap room with teachers around, but made sure that he molested them only when the teachers were not looking.
According to an Institute of Mental Health report, Teo was diagnosed with paedophilic disorder. However, DPP Quek said the disorder had no direct contributory link to his offences and did not impair his judgment or impulse control at the time.
On Nov 16, 2023, Teo's acts came to light when a school employee saw CCTV footage of Teo putting his hand into the diapers of one of the victims to molest her.
He was confronted by members of the school management committee and was asked to leave on Nov 23, 2023.
Despite his acts being made known on Nov 16, 2023, a police report was made only on Dec 2, 2023. It was not stated in court who made the police report and why there was a delay.
DPP Quek said that from the time Teo's acts were exposed in November to when the police were notified, the CCTV system was reformatted such that prior footage would be erased.
It was not stated in court documents who had erased the footage. Investigators managed to recover it, and Teo was arrested on Dec 4, 2023.
Four women have been charged over their alleged roles in covering up the incident.
The women, aged between 48 and 66, cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the identities of the victims. In February, each of them was handed one charge of intentionally omitting information on the sexual assault.
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.
DPP Claire Poh said Teo's offences were egregious, with the victims especially vulnerable at such a young age, and, thus, completely defenceless.
"The victims would hug him when they saw him as they felt close to him, but he abused their trust," added the prosecutor.
The DPP noted that the touches were not fleeting, with Teo molesting one victim at least nine times over a period of 25 minutes. He stopped only when a teacher sat down beside him.
Urging the court to impose a lighter sentence, defence lawyer A. Revi Shanker said his client was very remorseful for what he had done.
The lawyer said: "What he did was wrong. Very, very wrong. I'm not denying that... But the school should take responsibility. Why allow him to assist in taking care of the children if he was not employed to do so?"
The judge adjourned sentencing to Nov 10.
