The Taichung branch of the High Court has sentenced a Changhua County elementary-school teacher to four years and six months imprisonment after he was found guilty of inappropriately touching female students.
The teacher was accused of touching the chests of three female students, with court documents detailing a 2023 incident in which he took a student to the restroom, asked her to remove her top and placed adhesive bandages on her chest.
He said he was trying to help her with chafing, claiming she had complained of discomfort from sweat and had given him permission, court documents showed.
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
In testimony, the student said that she had refused his advances, but that he continued, adding that in previous incidents, the teacher had embraced her from behind and touched her chest.
After the girls’ parents informed the school of the incident, an investigation found that he had similarly made two other girls undress and touched their chests, court documents showed.
The teacher said he was attempting to help the students with hygiene and understanding their bodies, and also claimed he had Asperger syndrome, which impaired his judgement, court documents said.
All three girls testified that they were afraid of the teacher and required counseling after the incidents, the documents said.
In an earlier ruling, the Changhua District Court found the teacher guilty on three counts of committing an obscene act against a child younger than 14 under Article 227 of the Criminal Code.
It sentenced him to one year in jail, which could be commuted a fine, with the judges saying that Asperger syndrome affected his judgement and social interactions.
Prosecutors appealed the case to the Taichung branch of the High Court, which determined the defendant had abused his authority as a teacher, increasing the sentence to four years and six months, which could be appealed.
The judges said in the ruling that if the students needed help regarding their bodies, the teacher should have called in female staff to help them and contacted their parents.
The ruling also said the teacher had shown no remorse and did not apologize to the students or their parents, who had filed a civil suit seeking a combined NT$2 million (US$63,631) in damages.
In the civil suit, the teacher was ordered to pay the parents of the student in the first reported incident NT$300,000, and NT$60,000 each to the parents of the other victims.
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