Kaohsiung City Councilor Hsiao Jung-ta (蕭永達) yesterday accused a cram-school teacher of seducing and raping a young writer during her school years.
The 26-year-old writer, whose name is being withheld to protect her identity, died in an apparent suicide last week.
Her novel, published in February, is about a young girl who was raped by her teacher.
Photo: CNA
Her parents said that their daughter’s book was partly autobiographical and that trauma from the alleged rape caused her death.
Hsiao named the teacher and his place of employment.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilor told a news conference that he was willing to bet his political career on the truthfulness of his accusations and challenged the teacher to sue him if he was lying.
Hsiao said the teacher should take responsibility by apologizing to the deceased, her family and the public, in addition to retiring from teaching.
Kaohsiung Education Bureau official Chang Shu-fen (張淑芬) said that if the teacher is found to have broken the law, the case would be referred to an evaluation committee under Article 9 of the Supplementary Education Act (補習及教育進修法), which may result in the teacher’s firing and the revocation of the cram school’s license.
Chang said that although Hsiao’s accusations identified the alleged perpetrator, the bureau does not believe that his comments had violated the victim’s privacy and he would not be fined.
However, DPP Kaohsiung City Councilor Luo Ding-cheng (羅鼎城), an attorney with experience in sexual assault-related litigation, said it is hard to prove rape in court for sex acts between a person over 16 years of age and a teacher, unless the teacher used his position to coerce the student.
Hsiao might have exposed himself to a slander lawsuit by making a public accusation and naming the teacher, Luo said.
Hsiao said that after the author’s suicide on Thursday, a third party passed the information to him through intermediaries in the hope that he would get justice for the victim and her family.
“I have evaluated the situation and decided to make the accusation. I am willing to take any and all legal responsibility, and bet my political career on it,” he said.
Hsiao added there are a “whole pack of wolves” preying on students at cram schools and education authorities should take measures to protect young women.
The Humanistic Education Foundation’s southern Taiwan office director Chang Ping (張萍) said her office recently received two reports of alleged rapes at cram schools.
Since 2011, about 40 to 50 teachers are fired each year over rape or sexual harassment allegations, and about 200 of those former teachers are believed to have found employment in cram schools, Chang said.
The foundation has been lobbying education authorities to set up a system of background checks for potential cram school employees and to enhance sex education to let children know how to protect themselves, she said.
The Supplementary Education Act should be amended to bolster government oversight of behavior and standards of cram-school employees, Chang said.
Separately yesterday, Kaohsiung Supplementary Education Association president Chen Hsin-hsiung (陳信雄) said that the organization requires members to hire only instructors who can provide a clean Police Criminal Record Certificate.
However, while the association has about 200 members, non-association members outnumber them by about five to one, he said.
The employer of the teacher Hsiao accused of rape is not a member of the association, he added.
The Kaohsiung Education Bureau urged the public to report all incidents of harassment or rape to the police or to call 113, the abuse prevention hotline for women and children.
Additional reporting by CNA
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source