Two former senior staff members at a Singapore preschool have been sentenced to prison for their roles in covering up the molestation of toddlers by a school cook.

On Monday, a district judge found the 59-year-old former executive director guilty and sentenced her to four months’ imprisonment. The 49-year-old former vice-principal received a jail term of three months and two weeks for obstructing the course of justice by deleting critical CCTV footage and failing to report the abuse. 

The offences relate to the actions of a 61-year-old former cook at the same preschool, who was earlier sentenced to more than nine years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting three toddlers during naptime over a seven-month period in 2023. 

According to court proceedings, the vice-principal discovered the molestation while reviewing CCTV footage for an unrelated matter in November 2023. At that time, the executive director and the principal were overseas attending a child protection course. Instead of reporting the matter to authorities, the two conspired to delete the footage from their phones and delayed reporting the incident. 

In her sentencing remarks, the judge said both women had “profoundly betrayed” the trust placed in them and described their conduct as a “wilful failure” to fulfil their duty to protect vulnerable children. 

The principal of the preschool, who also admitted to omitting information, is expected to be sentenced at a later date.