A nanny was handed a six weeks jail sentence after video of her mishandling an 8-month old baby circulated online.
Chong Chew-peng, 56, pled guilty to one count of child abuse in court Friday. She was arrested last month for throwing a crying baby onto a playmat in Tsui Ping Estate in Kwun Tong, where a family had hired her to take care of their baby girl.
The defence said that Chong was in distress and sleep-deprived after learning that a friend overseas had passed away the night before. She originally wanted to take leave, but was worried about affecting her employer.
Unable to calm the crying baby down, she took her emotions out on the baby, the court heard. A surveillance camera in the apartment captured the outburst.
A psychological report determined that Chong does not have violent tendencies and that it is unlikely she will commit the offence again.
According to local media, the baby’s father learned of the incident when he was watching the footage from his apartment’s surveillance camera on his way to work. When he got home, he fired the nanny and took the baby to hospital. The baby was found to be fine after a check-up.
