15th August 2022 – (Hong Kong) A Filipino domestic helper was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport earlier when she tried to leave Hong Kong after slapping her employer’s 1-year-old baby girl. She pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts today (15th). The Chief Magistrate pointed out that the case was serious and the defendant had betrayed the trust of the baby girl’s parents. However, considering that the defendant had no criminal record and pleaded guilty, she was finally sentenced to immediate imprisonment for 6 weeks. The 29-year-old Filipino defendant, codenamed “D.S.M.”, was charged for wilful abuse or neglect of the 1-year-old girl X on 1st and 23rd June 2022, at a unit in the Whitty Building, 22 Whitty Street, Western District.
The father of baby girl X employed the defendant since 7th April, 2021.
At around 11pm on 23rd June, 2022, when X’s father checked CCTV footage at home, he found that at about 10pm that night, the defendant suddenly slapped X’s forehead vigorously with her hands and caused X to fall on the bed. X’s father confronted the defendant the next day and the defendant denied it. He then dismissed the defendant and asked the defendant to leave. X’s family then called the police, and X’s mother took X to Queen Mary Hospital for examination, but no injuries were found.
X’s father continued to check CCTV footage after the incident and found that on 1st June of the same year, when the defendant was feeding X drinking water in the living room, X had slapped the defendant’s face several times. X immediately cried. On 1st July of the same year, the defendant was arrested at the Hong Kong International Airport, and during a videotaped meeting, the defendant initially denied attacking X on 23rd June but later admitted that on 1st June, she repeatedly assaulted X because she lost control.
