Taichung is to introduce harsher punishments for individuals found guilty of child abuse, the Taichung City Government said on Wednesday, after it has been criticized for imposing the minimum fine of NT$60,000 in child abuse cases.
The announcement came after the New Power Party (NPP) criticized the city for being too lenient in several abuse cases at daycare centers.
The NPP told a news conference earlier in the day that since Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) took office in December 2018, at least seven cases of alleged child abuse by caregivers at daycare centers have been reported in the city.
Photo: CNA
Taichung fined perpetrators NT$60,000 or imposed no punishments at all, the NPP said.
Taichung Social Affairs Bureau Deputy Director-General Chen Kun-huang (陳坤皇) said that the bureau handles such cases based on the city’s uniform punishment standards for breaches of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法).
The act stipulates fines of NT$60,000 to NT$600,000 for those found guilty of physically or mentally abusing underage people at welfare institutions or care centers.
The last revision of Taichung’s standards were made in 2019, but Lu has ordered a review to impose higher penalties, Chen said.
His agency would work with the Taichung Legal Affairs Bureau to revise the punishment rules, he said.
Lu on Wednesday said that the city continues to investigate allegations of child abuse by staff at the now-defunct Hwa Shin Infant Care Center in Taichung’s Nantun District (南屯).
A caregiver at the center surnamed Huang (黃) was last year fined NT$60,000 and banned from working in children’s daycare for 10 years after she was found guilty of physically abusing a young child on Feb. 9 last year.
Hwa Shin was fined NT$60,000 for negligence and instructed to improve its practices, the Social Affairs Bureau said, adding that the center suspended operations in August last year.
On Feb. 8, the bureau received another complaint that another child had been abused at Hwa Shin last year, but the case was not made public until Friday last week, when parents who had sent their children to the center held a news conference.
The parents showed video footage of multiple caregivers apparently abusing children, accusing the city government of inaction.
On Monday, the city government said in a statement that three more cases of alleged child abuse at the center had been uncovered.
A review of surveillance footage taken at Hwa Shin from Jan. 27 to Feb. 9 last year showed three children apparently being abused by two caregivers, the city government said.
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