SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force on Friday (Jul 3) said they were aware of an online post accusing an applied behavioural analysis therapist of abusing a young child with autism, and that a review is being conducted.
The boy's mother had posted two videos on her Facebook page on Tuesday showing closed circuit television camera footage (CCTV) of the therapy session, alleging that her son was physically abused.
AdvertisementAdvertisementPolice said the child’s father lodged a report on Mar 29, 2019 at about 11.30pm.
The father told police that the six-year-old had been abused by a 28-year-old female therapist earlier that day during a session at their home.
Medical examination of the boy at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital was carried out on the same day and no physical injuries were found.
The police said they conducted investigations, including reviewing the CCTV video that captured the entire 90-minute therapy session, and interviewed the therapist and other relevant individuals.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAfter concluding the investigations, the police, in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), issued a written advisory to the therapist.
“This outcome took into consideration the context of the therapist’s actions, and the interactions and dynamics between the boy and the therapist during the entire 90-minute session, which the nine-minute extract of the CCTV footage that had been shared online did not fully reflect.
“The outcome of the investigations was communicated to the family in August 2019. The police understand that the family had consulted lawyers and had received legal advice on the matter,” the police said in a statement.
After receiving further representations from the family in January this year, the police said they conducted more interviews and sought further guidance from AGC.
“This was made known to the family at that time, and the police have been in contact with the boy’s family. The police are currently still in the midst of the review,” they added.
Clips from the video were also shared on Instagram, with one post gathering more than 230,000 views.
In response, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said in a Facebook post that he "was alarmed" by what he saw and has "asked that this matter be looked into thoroughly".
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