Lin Min, 35, a former Kinderland preschool teacher, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, 5 Mar 2025, to mistreating four children aged between one and three years old, including forcing water on them and making them lie down against their will.
Two of the children suffered nightmares following these incidents.
The defendant faces four charges under the Children and Young Persons Act and two charges of criminal force.
She admitted to three charges on Wednesday, with the remaining charges to be considered during sentencing on 13 Mar 2025.
To protect the victims, the court has ordered media not to report any information that might reveal their identities, including the location of the incidents.
Forced Water Drinking and Physical Restraint
Lin joined Kinderland as a preschool teacher in March 2020 and was the Chinese language teacher for the victims at the time of the incident.
On 30 Jun 2023, around 4:00 PM, Lin noticed that a one-year-and-ten-month-old girl had not drunk her water.
When the girl didn’t drink properly and spilled water on her clothes, Lin grabbed her cheek forcefully saying, “No, drink water.”
As the girl turned her head away, Lin raised her voice, forced her to lie down, and squeezed her cheeks while pouring water into her mouth, causing the crying child to cough and choke.
Lin also mistreated a two-year-and-five-month-old boy on 27 and 30 Jun 2023.
On 27 Jun, she became angry when he refused to drink water and forced him to lie down.
When he sat back up, she grabbed him at least twice despite his struggles and crying, making comments about the boy “crawling fast,” “could join sumo in Japan,” and “slap face.”
On 30 Jun, when the boy cried and pushed her hand away while she tried to give him water, Lin grabbed his forehead multiple times, forcing his head back.
She warned him that she would feed him herself if he didn’t drink, which made him comply.
Parents Discovered Abuse Through School Notification
The parents of both children were unaware of Lin’s actions until the school notified them on 17 Aug 2023.
The girl’s parents reported that their daughter sometimes woke up at night crying “no” and “bye-bye, teacher,” indicating she wanted Lin to leave.
The boy’s parents told police their son disliked strangers touching his head and back, sometimes cried about not wanting to go to school, and had nightmares.
Additional charges show that on 2 May 2023, Lin forced a three-year-old girl to sit in a chair while pouring water into her mouth.
On 28 Jun 2023, she hit a two-year-old boy’s buttocks five times with a book.
According to Kinderland’s guidelines, teachers can only verbally discipline children or take away favorite toys or games.
If these methods fail, they should consult the principal. Physical discipline is never allowed under any circumstances.
Prosecutors noted the victims were very young, vulnerable, and unable to express their experiences, making the crimes difficult to detect.
The parents only realized the severity of the incidents after seeing video footage more than a month later.
The prosecution has requested a prison sentence of 18 to 24 months, highlighting that Lin violated school guidelines and disregarded the children’s physical and mental well-being by continuing her actions despite their distress.
Lin’s lawyer argued this case differs from other child abuse cases with intentional harm, stating that dehydration in young children is dangerous and Lin’s actions were to make sure the children drank water, not out of cruelty.
The defense claimed she didn’t endanger their lives and requested a lighter sentence.
According to previous reports by zaobao.sg, Kinderland appointed an independent investigation committee after incidents of teachers mistreating children at two branches.
Lin was dismissed on 28 Aug 2023. Another female teacher involved in child abuse received a one-year conditional warning and was dismissed before returning to her home country.
The two branches were each fined SGD$5,000 for failing to properly train and supervise staff.
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