A 32-year-old paramedic in Singapore has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for the calculated and repeated abuse of his 9-to-11-month-old nephew-in-law. Over three months, the man choked the infant, pushed his head under water, pressed a pillow over his face, and struck him, all while filming the acts. The abuse was motivated by a grudge against the child's father.
The court heard that the man engineered opportunities to be alone with the child, committing these acts both at home and in public housing void decks. The abuse was only stopped when a passerby spotted him choking the infant at a void deck, confronted him, and called the police.
Judge Koo Zhi Xuan described the man's actions as a "grave affront to human dignity," noting that the abuse was premeditated, not a result of caregiver stress, and that the offender recorded 34 videos of the abuse to rewatch. The judge applied a 20% reduction for the guilty plea instead of the usual 30%, citing the egregious nature of the crimes.
The abuse caused the victim significant developmental delays, including moderate to severe expressive speech delay. The judge ordered the man to pay S$4,000 in compensation and deferred his sentence to end of July.