The Control Yuan today announced it has reprimanded the Taipei City Government after an investigation found significant failures in the handling of a child sexual assault case from 2022 to 2023.
Private preschool teacher Mao Chun-shen (毛畯珅) was convicted last year on charges of sexually abusing children at the Taipei Piramide School, which was owned by his mother.
The abuse came to light in 2023, leading to the school’s license being revoked and disciplinary action against all staff found responsible.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Mao was found guilty on 11 counts of sexual assault, 207 counts of indecent assault and six counts of filming obscene images.
He was sentenced to 28 years in prison, extended by a further eight months last month after 39 more victims were identified.
The case remains under trial at the Taipei District Court.
The Control Yuan’s investigation, conducted by members Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華), Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), found that since the initial report was received in July 2022, the Taipei City Government, under then-mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), failed to conduct proper investigations and follow-up.
The investigation found seven major oversights by the city government, including failure to conduct proper on-site investigations, lack of a dedicated response unit and failure to immediately suspend the suspect, allowing him to perpetrate further acts of sexual assault, the members said.
The Control Yuan also found the city government failed to coordinate effectively with education and social welfare agencies, creating gaps that also led to further cases being missed and more incidents.
The Control Yuan called for disciplinary action against the heads of the Taipei Department of Education and Department of Social Welfare.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) declined to comment on the case when speaking to reporters today before attending the Taipei International Book Exhibition.
The city government already did a thorough investigation and took appropriate disciplinary measures last year, Taipei deputy spokesperson Li Cheng-hsuan (李政軒) said.
The city government has also implemented improved countermeasures and would continue to work closely with parents and caregivers to prioritize children’s safety, he added.
The Taipei Department of Education in a news release today said that it had imposed severe punishments on the perpetrator and kindergarten staff, and took disciplinary action against relevant department personnel.
It also created a response team in conjunction with the city’s Department of Social Welfare, Department of Health and Taipei police to ensure nothing has been missed in this case and to prevent similar cases from occurring, it said.
Additional reporting by Fang Wei-li
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit
HOSPITAL VISITS: Shin Kong Mitsukoshi pledged to give the families of the four people who died NT$11m each and provide support for staff working at the time The central government would assist local governments to enhance public safety, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as he visited people in hospital who were injured in an explosion at a department store in Taichung on Thursday. A suspected gas explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang department store in Taichung at 11:33am on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 36. Of the 40 casualties, 39 were hospitalized, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed. Three died after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the data showed. As of 6am yesterday, 25 of those injured had been discharged from hospital, leaving 11