SINGAPORE – A woman, allegedly linked to a case involving the purported sexual assault of a two-year-old female pre-schooler in 2023, has been given a stern warning and was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal on July 16.

This means, the 66-year-old woman cannot be charged again over the same offence.

She was one of four women who were hauled to court in February and was

charged with one count of intentionally omitting information in relation to an alleged outrage of modesty

on the child at a pre-school.

All four, who were then management staff of the pre-school, have since been removed from their postings.

Without revealing details on July 28, the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times: “After investigations and with careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter, the prosecution directed that a stern warning be administered to the accused.

“Following the administration of the stern warning, the prosecution applied for (the) discharge.”

District Judge Kok Shu-En then granted it during a pre-trial conference on July 16.

A man accused of molesting the girl and all four women cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the child’s identity.

The cases involving the three remaining women and the man are still pending.

On Dec 6, 2023, the man, then 59,

was charged with one count of using criminal force on a person below 14 years old with intent to outrage modesty

.

According to court documents, the Malaysian man, who is also a Singapore permanent resident, allegedly used criminal force on the toddler by placing his right hand inside her diaper to molest her in November that year.

The women were later charged in court. The trio, whose cases are still pending, were 48, 58 and 61 years old when they were charged in February.

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

The 48-year-old and 58-year-old women were also charged with obstruction of justice as they allegedly reformatted the pre-school’s closed-circuit television system on Nov 26, 2023, which contained a clip of the alleged offence.

The two of them were also given a third charge of obstruction of justice, allegedly committed between Nov 16 and 17 in 2023. 

The 48-year-old woman is said to have deleted a video clip of the alleged sexual assault in her WhatsApp chat with the 58-year-old woman, who was in Vietnam at the time.

The 61-year-old woman was given a second charge of engaging in a conspiracy for the obstruction of justice.

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