Taichung police yesterday said they have launched an investigation into reports of sexual abuse of four boys by a male instructor at a summer camp.
The camp is operated by a charity that works with youths with varying levels of hearing or visual impairment.
Investigators said they have spoken to the alleged victims, all aged 12 to 13, who have since received counseling provided by the Taichung Social Affairs Bureau.
On July 28, a hearing-impaired boy used sign language to tell an adult that he had been sexually assaulted by a camp instructor surnamed Chang (張) the previous night.
According to the boy, the alleged incident occurred on the upper floors of the charity’s office building in Taichung, which host the summer camp’s activity center and dormitory, police said.
After the boy’s allegations were reported, police interviewed all 23 boys who were enrolled in the program and stayed overnight on July 27.
Three more hearing-impaired boys told police that they were sexually assaulted by Chang.
The four boys told police that Chang entered the dormitory late at night when they were asleep and forced them to perform sexual acts.
Chang was taken into custody yesterday, police said, adding that the camp’s participants would be questioned further, as authorities suspect there could be more victims.
Chang, who is in his early 20s and is also hearing impaired, has been a volunteer with the organization for many years, an executive of the charity said, adding that Chang had gained the group’s trust to work as an instructor at the summer camp.
A bureau spokesman said the summer camp has been shut down, adding that officials are to inspect the office building for other infractions related to the case.
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