The babysitter who fed two babies under her care with drugs, including Xanax, four years ago has been sentenced to seven years’ jail.
The judge today handed the sentence to Sa’adiah Jamari, 39, more than a month after finding the freelance nurse guilty of administering drugs to the two babies, who were only five and 11 months old when she took care of them in November and December of 2016. The verdict came several months after the trial began in February.
Other than Xanax, doctors also found sleeping drugs including temazepam and antihistamine chlorpheniramine, which is also used to treat allergies, in the younger girl’s body. The court did not reveal whether other drugs were given to the older girl.
Sa’adiah was arrested on Dec. 28, 2016, after the children’s parents filed police reports against her. The parents of both baby girls, who were not related, had met Sa’adiah on Facebook, where it was said that the babysitter was promoting her services for just S$30.
During trial, the mother of the younger baby said that her daughter was “cranky” and her eyes droopy after around four visits to Sa’adiah’s home in Hougang in November, but a check at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital later cleared her daughter of any drug consumption. The mother continued to take her daughter to Sa’adiah until another trip to a different hospital revealed various substances insider her daughter’s body.
The mother of the older girl said she found Sa’adiah on Facebook while looking for someone to take care of her child on Christmas evening. The next morning, the parent found that her child was “tired,” “drowsy,” and “could not walk.” She then took her daughter to the KK hospital, where urine samples revealed traces of Xanax.
In July, Sa’adiah told the court that the drugs were prescribed to her but denied giving them to the baby girls. She also said that she “love the children.”
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