The Taipei District Court today sentenced a social worker to two years in prison for negligent homicide in the death of a child, while acquitting her of document forgery.
The ruling can be appealed.
The one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), died in December 2023 after extensive abuse by his two nannies.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The High Court in January rejected the appeal of the two nannies, upholding a life sentence for the older sister and an 18-year sentence for the younger sister.
The social worker, Chen Shang-chieh (陳尚潔), placed Kai Kai in the sisters’ care in August 2023, while working for the Child Welfare League Foundation.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office found that Chen had failed to truthfully record her visits to Kai Kai, despite clear signs of abuse.
Prosecutors indicted Chen in August 2024 on suspicion of negligence resulting in death and document forgery for making false entries in official documents.
Chen was the person best positioned to recognize the extent of the abuse and save Kai Kai, and she failed to act, the court said in its ruling.
The child frequently experienced fevers and showed signs of allergies and injuries, and yet Chen did not urge the nanny to seek medical treatment for him, the court said.
The Taipei City Government’s Department of Social Welfare said it would convene a disciplinary committee to review the case in accordance with the Social Worker Act (社會工作師法).
The Child Welfare League Foundation apologized to Kai Kai in a statement today, saying that it had reflected on the case over the past two years and taken steps to improve safeguards for all children under its care.
It expressed regret that the breakdown of the social safety net had led to a frontline social worker bearing full responsibility for Kai Kai’s case.
Additional reporting by Wu Po-hsuan
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