An infant daycare center in Kaohsiung has been ordered to cease operations for allegedly mistreating children under its care, the city’s Social Affairs Bureau said on Friday.
At least eight children, aged two months to two years old, were found to have been abused from Feb. 10 to 12 at Bei Yujia Infant Daycare Center in Nanzih District (楠梓), the bureau’s deputy director-general Yeh Yu-ju (葉玉如) said.
Based on evidence collected from the center’s surveillance cameras, the children were subjected to improper feeding and other mistreatment, she said.
Photo: CNA
The alleged incident involved three people, including a married couple, identified by their last names Chu (朱) and Yang (楊), and a former employee surnamed Tung (董) who recently resigned from Bei Yujia.
The daycare center is registered under Chu’s name, but is run by Yang, who has been banned from operating or working in a childcare organization for five years due to a prior child abuse record in her previous role as a nanny in 2020, Kaohsiung City Councilor Lee Ya-hui (李雅慧) said.
The daycare center was shut down, but then reopened last year under her husband’s name, Lee said, adding that the government should re-evaluate its review system for childcare organizations.
The bureau noticed that the business had re-registered to open at the same location, but approved the application, because it conformed to regulations as it was under Chu’s name, Yeh said.
Yang and Tung were fined NT$480,000 and NT$60,000 respectively for contravening the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法), the bureau said.
In addition to the NT$480,000 fine, Yang was banned from operating or working in a childcare organization for 30 years, Yeh said, adding that the bureau is working to assist families transfer their children to other daycare centers.
Four parents have already filed lawsuits against the center, she said.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung has been investigating the case since middle of last month after the incidents of alleged child abuse were reported by the city’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Center.
Raids were carried out on Bei Yujia with Chu, Yang and Tung being questioned by police in early this month, prosecutors said.
The couple were later released on bail of NT$40,000 each while Tung was also let go after posting bail of NT$10,000, they added, indicating that the investigation is still ongoing.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS