A foster carer surnamed Liu (劉) and her younger sister were indicted yesterday on child abuse charges in the case of a one-year-old boy who was allegedly beaten to death in December last year, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The Liu sisters are accused of criminal offenses that include the abuse of the foster child, impairing his mental and physical development, and causing injuries that led to his death, the office said, citing child welfare laws.
The case is to be heard by lay judges alongside professional judges, it said in a statement.
Photo: Taipei Times
The one-year-old boy died on Dec. 24 last year, less than four months after the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) placed him in full-time foster care with Liu, an accredited home-based foster carer in Taipei, the city government said.
In January, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office summoned Liu for questioning, and it later obtained a court order to detain her on suspicion of child abuse leading to death, it said in an earlier statement.
Liu’s younger sister was also summoned for questioning and was detained in February on similar charges, it said.
Last month, Taipei prosecutors also questioned a CWLF employee, a 29-year-old social worker surnamed Chen (陳), who had handled the foster care case, and she was released on bail of NT$300,000.
Chen is still under investigation for allegedly falsifying documents pertaining to the case and could face charges of involuntary manslaughter, the office said.
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