By Vir B. Lumicao
A 40-year-old Filipina domestic helper who had pleaded
guilty to abusing her two-year-old male ward due to stress has been meted a
two-week jail sentence suspended for 12 months by a magistrate in Kwun Tong
Court.
In other words, Erlinda B. Organista will not be imprisoned if the does not commit a crime for a year.
Organista was convicted of one count of
“assault by a person in charge of child” but Magistrate Leung Ka-kie gave her a suspended sentence because she expressed remorse and admitted guilt,
according to local news reports.
Organista pleaded guilty on Jan 2 but sentencing was delayed
until Jan 7 pending a background report.
The helper, who had been working for the boy’s family in One
Kai TaK, Kowloon, since February last year, told investigators she had been stressed
and was in a bad mood after a phone fight with her husband in the Philippines
over marital issues.
She also said she lacked sleep due to her workload.
When she tried to feed the boy porridge on Dec 21, he refused to eat.
This angered the maid, who slapped the boy’s face eight times,
pinched his neck and abdomen and pulled his legs numerous times in a half-hour
period, the reports said.
Organista was arrested after the child’s father heard unusual
cries from his son and checked CCTV footage and discovered the abuse. The child was treated in hospital and was discharged the same
day.
During mitigation, the defense counsel said her client had
been overworked and could not sleep thinking of her marital problems.
