The former manager of a daycare center in New Taipei City and two caregivers were on Wednesday sentenced to prison terms between eight and 16 months, after they were found guilty of abusing six toddlers.
In the New Taipei District Court case, Hsia Hui-chuan (夏惠娟), manager of Yu Hsin Daycare Center, was sentenced to nine months in jail, while Chiang Pei-jou (江珮柔) and Chen Hui-ting (陳慧婷), employees of the center, were sentenced to eight and 16 months respectively.
The sentences are commutable to fines, and the ruling can still be appealed, the court filing showed.
The court said that as childcare professionals, the three were expected to take responsibility for the welfare and education of young children, but they physically abused them, which might have caused long-lasting trauma.
The three reached settlements with the parents of only two of the six toddlers, the court said, adding that it therefore decided not to grant them suspended sentences, as they had sought.
The case was first made public in January last year when the parents of the six children in a news conference showed a video they recorded of the abuse at the center.
In the surveillance camera footage, which was leaked by a former employee of the center, one caregiver is seen shaking a toddler.
The video also showed another caregiver hitting a crying toddler on the feet with a wooden spatula, and a third caregiver beating a small child and forcing them into a cupboard.
New Taipei City prosecutors and the city’s Social Welfare Department subsequently launched separate investigations into the case.
The department later fined Hsia, Chiang and Chen NT$140,000 each and publicized their names. The daycare center was fined NT$300,000 and its operating license was suspended for a year.
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