The Control Yuan on Tuesday voted to impeach former High Court judge Chen Hung-pin (陳鴻斌) over allegations of sexual harassment of an office assistant over a two-year period.
The move came after Control Yuan members voted eight to one to dismiss Chen from his job and a judicial body’s finding regarding the alleged misconduct.
The Control Yuan members said Chen had “tarnished the public’s respect for a court judge’s position; his conduct was unsuited to the role of a judge.”
Chen, 60, was a judge at the Taipei High Administrative Court.
According to the probe, Chen used his position to harass a female assistant by touching, grabbing and forcefully kissing her, as well as by using suggestive language to lure her into a sexual relationship, persisting in his actions for two years.
In May, the Judicial Yuan’s Judges’ Evaluation Committee found Chen guilty of sexual harassment and recommended his dismissal, then forwarded the case to the Control Yuan for consideration of impeachment.
An independent investigation found that Chen abused his authority to hug and touch the assistant repeatedly against her will.
The assistant said she acquiesced out of fear of losing her job, according to the findings.
Judiciary officials said Chen was the first judge to be dismissed from his job over allegations of sexual harassment, while he is barred from taking on other judicial posts.
The official said the case had been handed over to the administrative court for judicial review and if the committee’s decision is upheld, Chen would have his retirement pension of NT$160,000 per month reduced to about NT$70,000, the average monthly retirement pension for medium to high-ranking government employees.
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