Man gets jail, cane for beating stepson, 9, causing ruptured eardrum
Angry with his then nine-year-old stepson for lying to him, the man beat him with his elbow and fists, causing the child to have multiple fractures and a ruptured eardrum.
The boy's stepfather did this despite knowing the child had undergone surgery on his right ear a year before.
As a result of the beating, the boy was hospitalised for 10 days.
The Singaporean man, who had a long list of physical abuses against his stepson, pleaded guilty on Thursday (Jan 6) to three offences including voluntarily causing grievous hurt. Another two charges were taken into consideration.
The 32-year-old man, who worked as a logistics officer and a Grab driver, was sentenced to jail for two years and nine months and six strokes of the cane.
The boy, now 11, and the stepfather cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act to protect those below 18.
The court heard that the stepfather would often get angry at the child as he felt he was naughty and prone to lying. To discipline him, he would scold the boy and hit him with his fists, or even a belt.
"The victim was therefore scared of the accused, and felt frightened whenever the accused was at home and his mother was out at work," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Dhiraj G. Chainani.
On Nov 12, 2019, the stepfather became angry when he found out the boy had not eaten his lunch and lied that he had never asked for it.
"Angered by the victim's lie, (the stepfather subjected) him to various forms of physical abuse," said DPP Dhiraj.
"This included punching the left of the victim's face, slapping the right of the victim's face, elbowing the victim's back, and punching the victim's body several times."
Later, he dragged his stepson out of bed to his bedroom and closed the door, after the boy refused to answer his questions but replied to the family's helper.
The boy was in the room for two hours, during which the man grabbed his left wrist and began twisting it, applying more pressure even as the boy screamed in pain.
"His cries and screams for pain were so loud that the helper heard it from outside the accused's room," said the prosecution.
The boy was hospitalised for 10 days, during which the police were informed. A doctor's assessment the next day found he had injuries that included a fractured wrist and forearm, a kidney laceration and a ruptured eardrum.
In a separate incident in 2016, the man pointed a knife at the stepson after an argument with the boy's mother about how he disciplined the boy.
"The victim's mother told the accused that she felt that the way he disciplined the victim seemed like he was trying to kill him," said DPP Dhiraj.
The boy moved in with his maternal grandparents after his discharge from hospital, and has since developed a fear of leaving home alone, as he was afraid he would bump into his stepfather who lived a few blocks away. As a result, his grandfather had to accompany him each time he left for school and returned home.
For some time, the boy also experienced recurring nightmares of the man.
DPP Dhiraj added that this was not a typical child abuse case and the man's abuse ultimately caused the boy to be separated from his biological mother, who continued to live with the man and their children.
"There was a serious abuse of trust and authority," he said, urging for a harsher sentence for the man due to his relationship as a stepfather.
District Judge May Mesenas took the prosecution's position in sentencing the man.
For the offence, he could have faced a maximum punishment of eight years' jail and a fine of $8,000.
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