A Kaohsiung childcare center has been ordered to shut down due to child abuse, while the operators and a former staff member have been released on bail after being questioned by prosecutors.
Two childcare workers were found to have abused at least eight children aged two months to two years at Bei Yujia Infant Daycare Center in Kaohsiung’s Nanzih District (楠梓), Deputy Director of the Kaohsiung City Government's Social Affairs Bureau, Yeh Yu-ju (葉玉如), said today.
They shouted at the children, slapped them and forced them to drink milk, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung City Councilor Li Ya-hui (李雅慧) said in a post on Facebook last night.
Photo: CNA
A woman surnamed Yang (楊) had a prior child abuse record and had unlawfully registered the center under her husband’s name, she said.
She is to be fined NT$480,000 by the Kaohsiung City Government’s Social Affairs Bureau, while another employee who has since resigned, surnamed Tung (董), is to be fined NT$60,000, the bureau said.
The two were in violation of Article 49 of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法), and would be barred from operating or working within childcare organizations for 30 years, it said.
The center’s operator, surnamed Zhu (朱), and Yang were released today following questioning on bail of NT$40,000, while Tung was released on bail of NT$10,000, Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office said this afternoon.
The prosecutors’ office received a report from the Social Affairs Bureau in mid-March and conducted a search and questioning of Zhu, Yang and Tung in early April, it said.
A parent of one of the abused children was informed by social workers in February that the care organization committed acts of child abuse, they said today in an interview.
They went to personally check the surveillance footage and saw their three-month old child had been slapped and force-fed milk, they added.
“My child was thrown around and shaken like a toy,” they said.
Since the baby started attending the center at the end of last year, the parent noticed that their child came home dirty every day, but assumed it was negligence on the part of the daycare staff and didn’t expect it be from abuse, they said.
The daycare center was previously shut down due to allegations of child abuse, but reopened at the same location last year.
Yang had been banned from operating or working in a childcare organization for five years due to fines issued in 2020 for professional negligence causing death (業務過失致死罪) in her previous role as a nanny.
Within a year, she had changed the operator’s name to her husband’s and re-registered the business at the same address, Li said today at a media conference held at the Kaohsiung City Council.
Several more child abuse allegations began just months after reopening, she said.
Li called on the government to reevaluate its review system for childcare organizations and immediately shut down Bei Yujia Infant Daycare Center so that it could not harm the more than 20 children still under their care.
The Kaohsiung City Government's Social Affairs Bureau, said the bureau received a report on Feb. 19, following which it reviewed surveillance footage, Yeh said.
It was found that from Feb. 10 to 12, eight children aged between two months and two years had been slapped, force-fed and suffered other instances of abuse, she said.
The center would be forced to stop operations for one year after it was found to have contravened Articles 81 and 83 of the child protection act, the bureau said.
Yang’s name, plus the name of the daycare center, would also be publicized, Yeh added.
The bureau found last year that the business had been registered at the previous location under her husband’s name, but as it still conformed to regulations, the application was granted, she said.
It did continue regular checks of the venue to ensure children’s safety, and though Yang was never found to be at the location, further investigations discovered that she had used another caregiver’s identity, prompting the involvement of prosecutors and investigators, she added.
During the investigation, Yang repeatedly stalled and refused to provide additional surveillance footage, she said.
With the assistance of prosecutors, authorities carried out a search of the facilities and secured further evidence, she added.
So far, four parents have filed lawsuits and the bureau would continue to assist families to transfer their children to other daycare centers to ensure uninterrupted childcare, she said.
The bureau is also helping families arrange for their children to undergo physical and psychological assessments at child protection medical centers, she added.
Moreover, the central government is currently discussing implementing a specialized law for childcare services, she said.
Kaohsiung would report this case to the central government in discussions which he hopes would work to improve childcare-related regulations, she said.
The investigation remains ongoing and further evidence is being collected, prosecutors said.
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