New Taipei City authorities last week broke into a home in the city’s Yonghe District (永和) to take emergency custody of a 12-year-old boy who had been kept out of school and isolated from society.
The boy, who has lived with his father since the age of two, has never attended school and has been isolated from the outside world, New Taipei City Social Welfare Department Commissioner Chang Ching-li (張錦麗) said on Friday.
The child’s physical well-being is a real concern, as he only weighs 19kg, is 1.1m tall and only has 12 teeth, Chang said.
Five years ago, the authorities wrote to the father, when the boy did not start attending elementary school, but he ignored the communication, Chang said.
Social services became involved in November 2019 and shortly thereafter sought the assistance of local prosecutors and the police.
The father often took trips abroad and owned a number of residences, but police tracked him down in October last year and ordered him to report to the local prosecutors’ office, the department said.
However, after meeting with prosecutors, the father changed his son’s household registration to Pingtung County in an effort to hide from the New Taipei City authorities.
Learning that the tactic was a ruse, the authorities on Tuesday located the child in an apartment in Yonghe.
CITY STEPS IN
When police officers broke into the apartment, the child was alone, sitting on a sofa covered with a thin quilt, despite the cold temperature.
The residence had an unpleasant odor and was poorly maintained, Chang said.
A determination was made that the boy’s care and living conditions were detrimental to his physiological development and he was promptly taken into custody, he added.
The father did not agree with the department’s determination and on Wednesday petitioned the local court for the boy’s return.
Media reports quoted the father as saying that he had kept his son, who was born with cerebral palsy, out of school to “protect him” and to prevent him from “being bullied.”
The court rejected his petition, citing the poor living conditions in which the boy was found and the father’s failure to let him attend school.
The court said that the boy did not appear properly nourished.
An application would be made to extend the boy’s placement in a foster care facility, New Taipei City Education Department head Ou Jen-hao (歐人豪) said.
The boy’s physical and mental development are to be evaluated by the educational department, Ou said, adding he would be placed in classes that suit his educational level.
The city government said that keeping the boy in custody is a last resort, and that social workers would continue to seek the father’s cooperation and understanding.
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