Three Control Yuan members are investigating whether Taoyuan authorities were negligent in their handling of alleged child abuse at a skilled care facility, including one incident that resulted in the death of a five-year-old boy.
The family of the boy, surnamed Fang (方), said caregivers at the facility in January allegedly “rocked his head forcefully and wrapped tape around his neck, causing the boy to roll on the floor while crying for help,” Control Yuan members Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Chang Chu-fang (張菊芳) said in a statement yesterday.
The boy, who had autism, “bit his fingers and hit his head for 20 minutes, but the facility’s staff turned a blind eye to this,” the statement said.
Photo: CNA
After the boy returned home that afternoon, his family noticed there was something wrong with him and took him to a hospital, where he died the following day, the statement said.
In another incident that occurred at the facility in June, a six-year-old girl diagnosed with autism was allegedly strapped to a chair while she was having an epileptic episode and was not taken to a hospital until more than an hour later, the statement said.
The alleged delay in hospitalization was likely the reason she fell into a coma and sustained permanent brain damage, it said.
The facility staff has also been accused of feeding two residents improperly, including by sitting on the back of one of them to pin him down in one instance, it said.
The Control Yuan members said they were trying to ascertain what actions the Taoyuan Department of Social Welfare took after it received a complaint from Fang’s family, such as demanding an improvement or handing out a punishment.
They are also trying to determine whether the department was negligent in its investigation and handling of alleged child abuse cases, including its supervision of caregivers at skilled care facilities.
The Control Yuan is responsible for investigating and disciplining public servants and agencies.
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