The Kaohsiung District Court has sentenced a daycare center teacher to 45 days in prison for charges linked to brandishing a BB gun at a boy with developmental issues under his care, it said in a recent verdict.
The sentence can be commuted to a fine, and the ruling can still be appealed.
In 2022, a teacher surnamed Tu (杜) feigned to throw a key and water pot at the boy, surnamed Chen (陳), for allegedly causing a clamor by kicking and punching the classroom blackboard, the verdict said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Tu was also accused of saying he would rough up the child in an attempt to make him more compliant, it said.
Chen, who was eight years old at the time, had a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it said.
Tu in March of the following year shot a BB gun at a door close to Chen, because Chen allegedly refused to do his homework before kicking a fellow student’s desk and threatening to throw a pencil box at that classmate, it said.
The child’s mother pressed charges against Tu after learning of the incidents, saying that the teacher had intimidated and physically assaulted her child with blows to the head, arm and thigh, the verdict said.
The prosecutor assigned to the case dropped the assault charges, as police did not find visible injuries on the boy and his mother did not provide medical documentation of a physical attack, it said.
Tu denied intimidating the boy and said that he disciplined the boy after getting reports from students that Chen bullied girls in the class.
The defendant additionally told the court that he had informed Chen’s grandmother of his behavioral issues at the cram school but did not receive a positive response, the verdict said.
Chen’s temper tantrums scared other children, and he would not stop when ordered, Tu was cited as saying.
The defendant contravened provisions of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法), which bans the intimidation of children, the verdict said.
Tu acted improperly regardless of his purportedly good intentions to educate Chen, an eight-year-old child who did not know right from wrong, it said, adding that Tu might have worsened the boy’s behavioral issues by setting a bad example.
Violent disciplinary methods inadvertently teach children that might makes right, it said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS