Lewisham couple jailed after being caught on CCTV viciously abusing three young children
A couple who were caught on CCTV subjecting three young children in their care to a litany of abuse, including vicious beatings, biting and even sucking on their faces, have been jailed.
Yea Ping Chan (left), 42, and Foo Khong Heow (right), 49, of Lewisham, tried to claim the violent assaults and bizarre sucking punishment were part of a prayer ritual.
A three-year-old girl, a six-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy were rescued after someone made a call to the NSPCC telling them the toddler was covered head-to-toe in bruises.
The couple had installed extensive CCTV around their house, which captured Chan subjecting the three-year-old to horrific abuse on a daily basis.
It revealed a series of assaults on all three children, but the main victim was the three-year-old.
Chan would frequently drag the little girl from her bed at night and attack her.
The assaults included biting, sucking, pushing, shaking and hitting her with household objects repeatedly.
The abuse could last up to seven hours and when she was not being assaulted, she was forced to stand in stress positions or squat continuously.
No medical attention was sought for the victim at any time during the period.
Heow was filmed forcing his feet in to the three-year-old’s mouth. He also viciously beat the three-year-old and six-year-old with a stick.
Chan was jailed for four years and two months at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of cruelty to a person under 16 and one count of assault by beating back in February.
Heow was sentenced to three years and four months after pleading guilty to two counts of cruelty to a person under 16.
The couple were arrested on September 1 last year when the NSPCC alerted police after receiving a report about the three-year-old, the Met Police said in a statement.
Officers said the toddler’s left arm was twice the size of her right arm and she had bruises around her neck, as well as extreme bruising to her face.
When asked how the little girl had received the bruising on her face, Chan told the officers she had been sucked on her face as part of a prayer ritual.
She demonstrated by sucking on the back of her own hand.
The three-year-old was also wearing gloves, which Chan said was because she bit her nails.
Further assessment of the toddler revealed she had further older bruises to her arms and hands.
The two older children told the officers Chan had punished the little girl because she was biting her fingers and toenails.
They said both Chan and Heow would carry out the horrific sucking punishment.
Both Heow and Chan were immediately arrested, while the children were taken to A&E for an assessment before being placed into foster care.
Investigating officer PC Alice Hammick-Smith, from the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said in a statement: “Both Chan and Heow carried out a despicable campaign of abuse on three young, defenceless children.
“These children should have been protected from harm by Chan and Heow, instead, they were subjected to extreme violence on an almost daily basis.
“The overwhelming level of evidence we gathered against them led to them having to plead guilty to these heinous crimes.”
An NSPCC spokewoman said: “Chan and Heow should have been looking out for the welfare of the three defenceless young children entrusted to their care. Instead they inflicted barbaric levels of abuse on them and made their lives a living hell.
“While this case demonstrates how the NSPCC and other agencies work together on a daily basis to protect children from abuse it also serves as a reminder that it is everyone’s responsibility to look out for the welfare of children.”
The spokeswoman urged anyone with any concerns about a child to contact the organisation.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2018, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Metropolitan Police / PA Wire.
