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.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS