Tu Hau-lin (屠豪麟), the head of the personnel section of the Department of Health, yesterday denied engaging in any "inappropriate behavior" at a party at the Sungkiang Rd. branch of Cashbox KTV on Aug 6.
Tu was accused yesterday by Cheng Ko-jung (鄭可榮) of kissing him and licking his ear against his will at the KTV parlor.
Cheng said that he had realized that Tu was the true culprit after seeing him on television and that he had been mistaken in accusing the DOH's acting head, Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲).
Accompanied by his wife and Taipei County councilor, 61-year-old Chou Sheng-kao (周勝考), Tu issued his denials at a press conference yesterday, stressing that he had not engaged in any of the "inappropriate behavior" alleged by Cheng.
"Although I had been drinking, I did not do anything inappropriate on the night of Aug 6," Tu said.
He added that he had never met Cheng before the gathering.
Tu also publicly bowed in a gesture of apology and said, "I am sorry for what my supervisor has had to go through over the past few days," and that he deeply regretted what had happened.
He had been interviewed by prosecutors on Friday and confirmed that he had attended the Aug 6 party.
He said that he would fully respect the results of the investigation into the case and hoped that the furor caused by the scandal would end as soon as possible.
"I hope the case will be closed within the shortest possible time-frame," he said, adding: "I would hope that the public will take a tolerant view of the case so that any resulting damage will be kept to a minimum.
A reporter asked Tu why he had not come forward on Thursday when Twu protested that he was being wrongfully accused, to which he replied, "I don't clearly remember what happened two months ago."
"I did not realize that the case could have anything to do with me until reporters started hounding me on Friday afternoon."
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