A string of sexual assault incidents involving six children has been uncovered at an overnight care facility in New Taipei, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City Councilor Cheng Yu-en (鄭宇恩) said today at a media conference.
Cheng said she initially launched an investigation at the request of the mother of one of the victims, a young boy known as K, who accused a child known as H of sexual assault in the dormitory, before discovering that there were other victims.
K reported the incident to a counselor at the organization in mid-June and the New Taipei City Government’s Social Welfare Department was informed, she said.
Photo: Huang Tzu-yang, Taipei Times
Boy H was then moved to a different dormitory, where he began to abuse his roommate, another young boy known as Y at the end of June, she added.
An investigation has found two other children, known as C and J, were also abused on separate occasions, while another child, known as L, has also been accused of sexual assault, she said.
K’s mother was told that K has given a statement to the police, she said, adding that K and H were accusing each other of sexual assault.
According to official procedure, whether the assault happened at the organization or outside of it, the incident must be reported to the police via the Center for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Cheng said.
However, of the six children involved, only boy H’s school had reported to the New Taipei City Police Department, according to police records, she said, and questioned whether the New Taipei City Government’s Social Welfare Department had failed in its duty to properly report incidents.
The department said that the incident was reported by staff at the organization and an investigation and counseling process is ongoing, adding that the organization has been temporarily suspended from accepting new students.
Those students involved have been transferred to separate private living spaces and room checks have been made more frequent, it said, while for serious cases, joint counseling meetings have been held involving schools, social workers and psychologists.
Treatment would be provided based on professional evaluations and experts have been assigned to offer support, it added.
The organization is to also begin self-protection training for newly admitted students to help the children understand boundaries and develop an awareness of sexual abuse, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
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
RSS