A military instructor at a senior high school in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅) is under investigation after she allegedly arranged for an underage student to be paid to have sex with a man, prompting the child’s parents to file charges and demand compensation.
Military instructors are soldiers assigned by the Ministry of National Defense to high schools, colleges and universities to teach basic military training courses and protect students.
Police said that the military instructor, surnamed Chiang (江), in September approached a female student about the alleged deal.
Screengrab from Internet
The student said she “had money” and was not interested, but agreed to ask her classmates if they would help Chiang.
A second student then allegedly agreed to have sex with the man for NT$100,000 and met with Chiang’s male friend at a restaurant in the SOGO shopping mall later that month to discuss details, police said, adding that the man canceled the arrangement when he discovered the girl was younger than 18.
Upon learning about the proposed arrangement, the family of the second girl was angry beyond restraint, police said, adding that they demanded NT$1 million in damages from the military instructor.
After the two sides failed to reach an arrangement, the parents filed a report with the Taoyuan Police Department’s Zhongli Precinct on Wednesday last week, police said.
The police added that they are investigating the military instructor’s and the first girl’s involvement in the incident.
Ministry of Education (MOE) Special Education Director Cheng Nai-wen (鄭乃文) yesterday said that the ministry had received information concerning the incident last week, but at the time the only information they received was that Chiang was planning on introducing a student to an employment opportunity.
The MOE’s K-12 Education Administration has since taken over the case and transferred Chiang to the ministry’s liaison office in Taoyuan, Cheng said.
Meanwhile, Liu Chia-chen (劉家楨), an official with the MOE’s Department of Student Affairs and Special Education Committee, said that the school on Monday conducted its own investigation and provided counseling to students.
Liu said that the MOE has also convened a Personnel Appraisal Committee meeting to look into the incident.
If Chiang is found guilty, she will receive demerits or even be dismissed, Liu said, adding that depending on the outcome of investigations, she might also lose her credentials and retirement pension if she is found guilty of a criminal offense by a court.
As the parents have filed a report with police and a police investigation is ongoing, the MOE is unable to release any further details about the case, Liu said.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsiao-yun
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