Warning: This report contains distressing details of child abuse.

SINGAPORE: A couple who regularly abused their child after he was born, resulting in his death at the age of eight months, was sentenced to jail on Wednesday (Oct 21).

Singaporeans Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, 23, and Neo Jia Ming, 27, were sentenced respectively to 15 years and three months’ jail and 16 years’ jail for various charges over the death of their son, Trevor Neo Yu Hin.

In sentencing, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said Trevor spent nearly the entirety of his short life enduring abuse from his parents.

While much was said about the couple’s youth and inexperience in handling children, Justice Hoo said they were not bereft of support. On the contrary, they were “well-supported” by their family members and had a nanny.

Instead, the couple “made light” of their physical abuse of Trevor and the potential detrimental consequences. Notwithstanding their youth and inexperience, they must be held accountable for their cruel acts, said Justice Hoo.

While Neo had contended that Gan was the one who committed the fatal acts, and that his overall culpability was far lower than hers, Justice Hoo said it was not a given that one who allows the death of a child is far less culpable than one who causes it. In this case, Neo was the first to begin shaking Trevor to stop his crying, and also the first to smother him. Neo also subjected Gan to abuse, noted the judge.

Gan wiped away tears and covered her face at various points of the sentencing, while Neo remained expressionless.

After the hearing, Gan’s parents spoke to her before she was taken away. Gan’s mother put her hand through an opening in the glass and spoke fervently to her daughter, who nodded as she listened. Neo’s mother and sister also spoke to Neo before he was taken away.

Gan pleaded guilty to three charges comprising causing the death of a child, ill-treating a child and permitting such ill-treatment. Neo pleaded guilty to four charges: allowing the death of a child, ill-treating a child, permitting Gan’s ill-treatment of Trevor and domestic abuse of his wife.

The couple had married in August 2023, after Gan became pregnant with Trevor around April that year. After giving birth, Gan initially lived with her parents and a confinement nanny before moving to live with her husband and his uncles.

From February 2024, the couple hired a nanny who cared for Trevor during the day on weekdays. Other relatives helped look after him on weekends.

Gan soon realised she could make her baby stop crying or faint by shaking him vigorously. She had seen her husband do this. The first-time parents shook Trevor frequently to stop him from crying, and later began covering his nose and mouth or smothering him.

For about seven months of his life, Trevor was assaulted by his parents and left with bruises. His father would slap him so hard he left bruises, or pinch his fingers forcefully to see his reaction. Neither parent intervened when they saw the other abusing the infant.

There were two instances of medical intervention. In January 2024, Trevor was hospitalised at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) for about a week after losing consciousness when Gan shook him. No injuries were found on him.

The second occasion was in early April 2024 when a nanny saw bleeding under the child’s tongue and insisted he see a doctor. The couple then took their son to KKH on Apr 2, 2024, where a doctor noted local trauma under the child’s tongue, with redness. The couple left the hospital with the child, and Neo told Gan that he had dug around in the boy’s mouth to stop him from crying, causing the bleeding.

In May 2024, Gan’s mother noticed bruises on the child and warned her daughter to stop hitting the infant. Around early August 2024, Neo told his wife not to hit the infant at all until after a doctor’s appointment, or the doctor would see the bruises and accuse them of abuse.

Trevor died after repeatedly being smothered by his mother in early September 2024. His father was in the same room playing a game on his phone.

Neo was found to have no mental illness, while Gan was found not to be suffering from any postpartum psychiatric disorder around March or April 2024. However, the court previously heard that she could have been suffering from an adjustment disorder which could have had a minor contributory link to the offence.

The prosecution had sought 14 to 15 years’ jail for Gan and 15 to 16 years’ jail for Neo. Gan’s lawyers, Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law, had asked for not more than 12-and-a-half to 13 years’ jail, stressing Gan’s youth and mental condition. Neo’s lawyers, Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, Mr Johannes Hadi and Ms Seraphine Loh from Eugene Thuraisingam Asia, sought seven years and seven weeks’ jail.

Justice Hoo drew several comparisons to the case of Megan Khung in sentencing Gan for the charge of causing a child’s death. Megan had died aged four in February 2020 after being abused for more than a year by her mother Foo Li Ping and her mother’s boyfriend, Wong Shi Xiang.

Justice Hoo said Trevor was defenceless and wholly unable to communicate or to seek help. He was more vulnerable than Megan in terms of age as he was eight months old, she added.

Justice Hoo said two factors weighed in favour of Gan in comparison to Megan’s mother, Foo. First, the abuse in Gan’s case was shorter than that in Foo’s. “The collective nature of the abuse here, while serious and egregious, was objectively less severe than in Foo Li Ping,” said the judge. She added that the degree of harm caused by the prior abuse was also less here than in Foo’s case. Gan’s conduct was also less egregious in the aftermath of the fatal acts, as the couple tried to resuscitate Trevor and took him to hospital.

Justice Hoo also gave weight to two mitigating aspects for Gan – her early guilty plea and her adjustment disorder which had a minor contributory link. She gave Gan a 5 per cent sentencing discount for the mental condition.

The judge also gave a 20 per cent sentencing discount to Gan rather than the full 30 per cent discount available because of the graveness of the case. However, she said the plea of guilt had saved valuable time and resources, since the final cause of Trevor’s death was unascertained. The resulting discount was higher than the 10 per cent that had been given to Foo.

Justice Hoo gave no further mitigating weight to Gan’s youth.

Neo was also given a discount of 20 per cent for his plea of guilt for the charge of allowing a child’s death.

The penalty for causing the death of a child is a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine or caning. Gan cannot be caned as she is a woman. For allowing the death of a child, Neo could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned; the prosecution did not seek caning.

For ill-treating a child where death is caused, an offender can be jailed for up to 14 years or fined up to S$40,000 (US$31,200), or both. If death is not caused, the maximum penalties are eight years’ jail or a fine of up to S$8,000, or both.