A Control Yuan member on Friday called for former Presidential Office spokesman Ernesto Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) to be convicted of sexual harassment, after the Judicial Yuan’s Disciplinary Court earlier this year found him not guilty of the charge.
Control Yuan member Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said the court had erred earlier this year when it did not find Ting guilty of contravening the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法).
The court in March barred Ting from taking a civil service position for two years after finding him guilty of contravening the Civil Servant Work Act (公務員服務法) due to his sexual activities while director of the Kaohsiung Information Bureau in 2014.
Ting resigned from the Presidential Office in September last year after the Chinese-language Mirror Media reported that he had relationships with four women while engaged to be married.
In January, the Control Yuan approved Ting’s impeachment, forwarding his case to the Disciplinary Court, which in its ruling found that Ting had sex with one of the women, identified as “Y,” three times in his office.
Chi appealed the decision, resulting in the second hearing on Friday.
She said that Ting had harassed “Y” by posting in February 2017 on Facebook a photograph of them together after “Y” had ended the relationship.
The court earlier ruled that the photo only indicated there had been a romantic relationship and was not evidence of sexual harassment.
Chi said it was unconvincing that the court, based on one photo, determined there was no sexual harassment. Chi said Ting had sent text messages that contravened the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act.
Ting was aware that “Y” was involved in another relationship, yet he chose to post the photo, which showed vengeful, “controlling” and “dominating” intent, Chi said, adding that the photo created a “hostile environment,” a crucial factor in determining sexual harassment.
“Through this case we hope to raise awareness for the justice system to safeguard human rights and sexual equality rights. It can help improve the justice system, for people to have trust in it and for the realization of gender equality in the courts,” Chi said.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
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