MOLEST ALLEGATIONS
Girl, 4, uses Teddy to touch doll's body
When mum asks distraught child to use toys to tell her what
happened...
By Faith Teo
August 02, 2005, NP
FAMILY SAYS:
IN the end, it was Barbie doll and a teddy bear who told the
horrible story for her.
After all, she is only 4.
She could not put it in words until her mum got her to act it out
with her toys.
It was enough to make her mother file a police report. Jane (not
her real name) was allegedly molested by her school bus driver. She
showed how Teddy touched Barbie, saying she was Barbie and the bus
driver Teddy, said her mother.
The man allegedly molested Jane three times in five days, starting
on the very first day she took the bus. The incidents allegedly
happened at a multi-storey carpark.
Police are investigating the allegations.
Jane's mother claimed that she first noticed something was wrong on
15 Jul, when her daughter complained of pain in her private
parts.
She said Jane constantly asked to be washed there.
That was the first day Jane took the bus from her childcare centre.
Earlier, her mum used to drive her there and back. But a job change
meant she could not make it to the centre in time in the
evenings.
'I approached the school for help, and they told me about this
driver,' said the mother, a sales executive.
On three occasions, Jane was the last to alight, said her
grandmother.
'She finishes school at about 4.30pm, and there are only a few
children on board, so I expected her to be home by about 5pm. But
it was already about 5.30pm when the bus arrived on the first
day.
'The driver... said that he was unfamiliar with our area. Jane was
just sitting very quietly at the back of the bus. When she got
home, she was very aggressive,' claimed the grandmother.
'She shouted at her grandfather, and later when her father came to
take her home, she shouted at him as well.'
The grandmother noticed that there was no attendant on the
bus.
The following Monday, Jane did not want to go to school. Her
tantrums lasted till Thursday when she took the bus home for the
last time.
For it was on that day her mum coaxed out her story.
Jane cried and begged her not to ask questions, she said.
So she asked Jane to show what happened using the toys.
'She showed me how Barbie was sitting at the back of the bus, and
Teddy moved to the passenger area.
'Teddy said 'please stand up' in Mandarin, and she used teddy's paw
to touch Barbie's face and other parts of her body.'
Jane now cries whenever she has to enter a multi-storey carpark,
said her mother. 'I visualise her fear... what could she do? She
was helpless.'
