The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a guilty verdict and prison sentence for the owner of an English school who was found to have abused a young boy attending its kindergarten and daycare center in 2014.
The Supreme Court said it turned down an appeal by the owner, a woman surnamed Lin (林), and upheld the High Court’s 28-month jail term issued in February last year.
The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
A lower court convicted Lin and two others, surnamed Liu (劉) and Chin (金), of plunging the head of the boy, surnamed Liang (梁), into a bucket of water or a pond in which children played, causing him to choke, the Supreme Court said.
They also allegedly forced him to do split jumps if he could not hold a squatting position long enough, had him take his clothes off in winter and subjected him to a cold shower, and prohibited him from drinking water or going to the bathroom after drinking water, the court said.
Lin allegedly gave the child hot and sour soup that had gone bad or was too spicy, hit his body and head using a paddle shaped like a small hand, and made him do homework on his hands and knees, resulting in physical injuries, it said.
Although Liang tried to tell his mother about the abuse, she did not believe him because of the excuses Lin gave, the ruling said.
After seeing a news report about other kids being mistreated at the same school in November 2014, the child spoke out, it said.
That led Liang’s parents to file a criminal complaint against Lin, Liu and Chin with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Prosecutors charged Lin with child abuse, and the Taipei District Court sentenced her to three years and 10 months in jail, which she appealed.
The High Court reduced the sentence to 28 months on the grounds that Lin had agreed to pay the family compensation, although Lin and the family have not agreed on an amount.
The Taipei District Court gave Liu a six-month sentence, commutable to a fine, and Chin a six-month sentence, commutable to a fine and suspended for four years, and also required Chin to perform 90 hours of community service.
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