The Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday decided against charging cram-school teacher Chen Kuo-hsing (陳國星) with rape because of insufficient evidence.
The parents of deceased writer Lin Yi-han (林奕含) had said they believe Lin’s mental illness and death by suicide on April 27 was the result of sexual abuse by Chen years earlier.
They said that Lin’s sole published novel, Fang Ssu-chi’s First Love Paradise (房思琪的初戀樂園), a story of a young girl who was raped by her teacher, was drawn from her own experience.
Photo copied by Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
On May 1, Tainan prosecutors launched an investigation into Chen, including his alleged assault of Lin and other unidentified victims, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Chen Chien-hung (陳建弘) told a news conference.
The office had called Chen Kuo-hsing and 27 witnesses for questioning, but found no evidence to support an indictment, Chen Chien-hung said.
The office had launched an investigation amid public calls for justice, but Lin’s parents declined to press charges when contacted by the office, he said.
No potential victims or individuals with direct knowledge of potential victims had come forward, he added.
As Lin is dead, the prosecution must rely on the objective examination of direct and indirect evidence to substantiate the opposing claims of the accusers and Chen Kuo-hsing, he said.
The charge of sex with a minor cannot be sustained because phone records — collaborated by testimony from Lin’s classmates — showed that Lin did not have relations with Chen Kuo-hsing before she was 16, he said.
The charge of sexual coercion by abusing authority cannot be established since the physical relationship between Lin and Chen Kuo-hsing happened after Lin left the cram school, he said.
Lin’s medical record was subpoenaed and examined by prosectors and they found no evidence suggesting Lin had ever asked for forensic documentation of injury or sexual assault from any hospital, he said.
Furthermore, Lin’s characterization of the relationship as recorded by her psychiatrist’s notes are inconsistent, which she had described as “coercive” in one case and “merely a romance” in another, Chen Chien-hung said.
“The investigation did not reveal objective and positive evidence to substantiate the subjective speculations of the accusing parties, and there are no sufficient grounds to proceed with the case,” he said.
Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) said while a court of law might lack evidence to try Chen Kuo-hsing, he bears moral responsibility for his actions that led to Lin’s traumatization and suicide.
“Chen Kuo-hsing will have to live with his guilty conscience,” Lai said.
National Taiwan University professor of law Lee Mau-sheng (李茂生) said on Facebook: “Anyone with a superficial knowledge of criminal procedures would have known this was a foregone conclusion.”
The investigation was conducted to calm an indignant public and the prosecutors’ explanation for filing charges are likely the point of the exercise, Lee said.
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
DEROGATORY: WTO host Cameroon’s designation of Taiwan as a ‘province of China’ seriously undermines the nation’s status and rights as a WTO member, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Cameroon for listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” in visa documents for an upcoming WTO ministerial conference, a move that led to Taiwan’s withdrawal from the event. The designation “seriously undermined” Taiwan’s status and rights as a WTO member, the ministry said in a statement. It is the first time since 2001 that Taiwan has declined to attend a WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday next week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Taiwan had planned to send a delegation led by Minister Without Portfolio
RSS