Prosecutors today recommended a 12-year sentence for a Kaohsiung man accused of hitting his girlfriend’s four-year-old boy against a wall, causing extensive brain damage and leaving him in a vegetative state.
It marks the first case to be prosecuted under the new “Kai Kai amendments,” introduced after a one-year-old boy nicknamed Kai Kai (愷愷) was killed in December 2023 by his two nannies.
Earlier this year, one of the abusers was handed a life sentence, while the other was given an 18-year prison sentence.
Photo courtesy of police
The case sparked reform in punishments for child abuse and child abuse resulting in death.
Amendments passed on July 18 to Article 286 of the Criminal Code call for a minimum 10-year sentence for those who mistreat and seriously injure a child under the age of seven.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office indicted the 26-year-old man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), for child abuse resulting in serious injury, requesting a 12-year sentence.
Between February and mid-September, he had on multiple occasions abused his girlfriend’s two boys, aged four and 10, using physical punishments under the guise of “games” or to “teach them a lesson,” prosecutors said.
The abuse caused bruising, contusions and visible injuries, they said.
Based on evidence, including the elder brother’s testimony and medical reports, prosecutors determined that Cheng had inflicted severe physical and psychological abuse over a substantial period of time.
On Sept. 15, the two brothers dropped biscuit crumbs on the floor and Cheng ordered them to clean them up and then squat as punishment, prosecutors said.
The younger boy then gave Cheng the middle finger, enraging him, they said.
Cheng then grabbed the boy and repeatedly slammed his head against the rear balcony wall, they said.
The child complained of severe headaches for three days before he vomited and collapsed on the fourth day, prosecutors said.
His mother took him to the hospital, but doctors found massive internal bleeding in his skull, multiple bruises, brain swelling and brain herniation, and he deteriorated into a vegetative state, they said.
He has remained in critical condition since and has lost functions including speech, taste and smell.
The hospital immediately notified the Kaohsiung Social Affairs Bureau and the Fengshan branch of the Kaohsiung Police Department.
Cheng denied hitting the boy's head during questioning, although he did admit to hitting the children with a wooden stick, prosecutors said.
The mother said she was showering and therefore did not witness the incident, they added.
A panel of experts convened by the child protection center of the Kaohsiung Hospital confirmed that it was an instance of child abuse.
Investigators found that the boy had attended kindergarten three times with visible bruising and injuries that teachers failed to report to authorities.
Cheng had been living with his girlfriend and her two children from a previous marriage in an apartment in Kaohsiung’s Fongshan Distict (鳳山).
The younger boy has been placed in protective custody by social services, while the older child has been placed in separate care.
Additional reporting by CNA
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