Couple who regularly abused their baby, resulting in his death, gets jail

Singaporeans Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, 23, and Neo Jia Ming, 27, were sentenced respectively to 15 years and three months' jail and 16 years' jail for various charges over the death of their son, Trevor Neo Yu Hin.

A stock image of a baby's feet. An eight-month-old child in Singapore died after persistent abuse by his parents. (Photo: iStock)

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Warning: This report contains distressing details of child abuse.

SINGAPORE: A couple who regularly abused their first child after he was born, resulting in his death at the age of eight months, was sentenced to jail on Wednesday (Oct 21).

Gan pleaded guilty to three charges comprising causing the death of a child, ill-treating a child and permitting such ill-treatment.

Neo pleaded guilty to four charges: allowing the death of a child, ill-treating a child, permitting Gan's ill-treatment of Trevor and domestic abuse of his wife.

The couple had married in August 2023, after Gan became pregnant with Trevor around April that year.

After giving birth, Gan initially lived with her parents and a confinement nanny before moving to live with her husband and his uncles.

From February 2024, the couple hired a nanny who cared for Trevor during the day on weekdays. Other relatives helped look after him on weekends.

Gan soon realised she could make her baby stop crying or faint by shaking him vigorously. She had seen her husband do this.

They shook Trevor frequently to stop him from crying, and later began covering his nose and mouth or smothering him.

For about seven months of his life, Trevor was assaulted by his parents and left with bruises. His father would slap him so hard he left bruises, or pinch his fingers forcefully to see his reaction.

Neither parent intervened when they saw the other abusing the infant.

There were two instances of medical intervention. In January 2024, Trevor was hospitalised at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) for about a week after losing consciousness when Gan shook him. No injuries were found on him.

The second occasion was in early April 2024 when a nanny saw bleeding under the child's tongue and insisted he see a doctor.

The couple then took their son to KKH on Apr 2, 2024, where a doctor noted local trauma under the child's tongue, with redness.

The couple left the hospital with the child, and Neo told Gan that he had dug around in the boy's mouth to stop him from crying, causing the bleeding.

In May 2024, Gan's mother noticed bruises on the child and warned her daughter to stop hitting the infant.

Around early August 2024, Neo told his wife not to hit the infant at all until after a doctor's appointment, or the doctor would see the bruises and accuse them of abuse.

Trevor died after repeatedly being smothered by his mother in early September 2024.

His father was in the same room playing a game on his phone.

Neo was found to have no mental illness, while Gan was found not to be suffering from any postpartum psychiatric disorder around March or April 2024.

However, the court previously heard that she could have been suffering from an adjustment disorder which could have had a minor contributory link to the offence.

The prosecution had sought 14 to 15 years' jail for Gan and 15 to 16 years' jail for Neo.

Gan's lawyers, Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law, had asked for not more than 12-and-a-half to 13 years' jail, stressing Gan's youth and mental condition.

Neo's lawyers, Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, Mr Johannes Hadi and Ms Seraphine Loh from Eugene Thuraisingam Asia, sought seven years and seven weeks' jail.

The penalty for causing the death of a child is a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine or caning.

For ill-treating a child where death is caused, an offender can be jailed for up to 14 years or fined up to S$40,000 (US$31,200), or both.

If death is not caused, the maximum penalties are eight years' jail or a fine of up to S$8,000, or both.

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新加坡籍女子 Chloe Gan Ci Xuan（23 岁）和 Neo Jia Ming（27 岁）因与其子 Trevor Neo Yu Hin 的死亡有关的各种指控，分别被判处 15 年零 3 个月和 16 年监禁。

一张婴儿脚部的示意图。新加坡一名八个月大的婴儿因长期遭受父母虐待而死亡。（图片：iStock）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

警告：本报告包含令人不安的虐童细节。

新加坡：一对夫妇在他们的第一个孩子出生后经常虐待他，导致孩子在八个月大时死亡，这对夫妇于周三（10 月 21 日）被判入狱。

甘某承认犯有三项罪名，包括造成儿童死亡、虐待儿童和允许虐待儿童。

Neo承认犯有四项罪名：放任儿童死亡、虐待儿童、纵容Gan虐待Trevor以及对妻子实施家庭暴力。

这对夫妇于 2023 年 8 月结婚，此前甘于同年 4 月左右怀上了特雷弗。

甘女士生下孩子后，先是和父母以及月嫂一起生活，之后搬去和丈夫以及丈夫的叔叔们一起生活。

从2024年2月起，这对夫妇雇佣了一名保姆，负责工作日白天照顾特雷弗。周末则由其他亲戚帮忙照看他。

甘很快发现，只要用力摇晃婴儿，就能让他停止哭泣或昏厥。她曾亲眼见过丈夫这样做。

他们经常摇晃特雷弗，让他停止哭泣，后来开始捂住他的口鼻，甚至让他窒息。

在特雷弗生命的大约七个月里，他一直遭受父母的虐待，身上伤痕累累。他的父亲会狠狠地扇他耳光，让他留下淤青，或者用力掐他的手指，观察他的反应。

当父母看到对方虐待婴儿时，双方都没有进行干预。

事件中曾发生过两次医疗干预。2024年1月，甘某摇晃特雷弗后导致他失去意识，随后在竹脚妇幼医院（KKH）住院约一周。他身上未发现任何伤痕。

第二次是在 2024 年 4 月初，当时一名保姆发现孩子舌头下面出血，坚持要带他去看医生。

这对夫妇随后于 2024 年 4 月 2 日带儿子去了 KKH 医院，医生发现孩子舌头下方有局部创伤，并伴有发红。

这对夫妇带着孩子离开了医院，Neo告诉Gan，他为了让孩子不哭，在孩子嘴里翻来翻去，导致孩子出血。

2024 年 5 月，甘的母亲发现孩子身上有瘀伤，并警告女儿不要再打孩子。

2024 年 8 月初，尼奥告诉妻子，在带孩子去看医生之前，绝对不能打孩子，否则医生会看到孩子身上的瘀伤，并指控他们虐待孩子。

2024年9月初，特雷弗被他的母亲反复捂住口鼻窒息而死。

他父亲当时也在同一个房间里，正在用手机玩游戏。

经检查，Neo 没有精神疾病，而 Gan 在 2024 年 3 月或 4 月左右没有患上任何产后精神疾病。

然而，法庭此前获悉，她可能患有适应障碍，这可能与犯罪行为有轻微的关联。

检方要求判处甘某 14 至 15 年有期徒刑，判处梁某 15 至 16 年有期徒刑。

甘的律师，来自 Invictus Law 律师事务所的 Josephus Tan 先生和 Cory Wong 先生，请求判处不超过 12 年半至 13 年的监禁，并强调甘的年轻和精神状况。

Neo 的律师，来自 Eugene Thuraisingam Asia 的 Eugene Thuraisingam 先生、Johannes Hadi 先生和 Seraphine Loh 女士，要求判处 7 年零 7 周监禁。

造成儿童死亡的处罚是最高可判处 20 年监禁并处罚金或鞭刑。

虐待儿童致其死亡的，犯罪者可被判处最高 14 年监禁或最高 40,000 新元（31,200 美元）罚款，或两者并罚。

如果未造成死亡，最高刑罚为八年监禁或最高 8000 新元罚款，或两者并罚。

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