《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taipei mayor apologizes for preschool abuse issue

LACKING EFFORTS: Officials did not believe the children reporting sexual abuse and did not take responsibility even when more evidence surfaced, a legislator said

By Jason Pan / Staff Reporter, with CNA

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Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an （蔣萬安） bowed and apologized yesterday to family members of those affected by a case involving allegations of sexual assault against multiple preschool students by a former teacher.

“It is my responsibility, and I must bear it” if any child in Taipei gets hurt, Chiang told reporters before attending a ceremony.

Chiang said that it is the government’s responsibility to review and improve its policies to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Chiang’s remarks came in the wake of a case involving a Taipei private preschool teacher Mao Chun-shen （毛畯珅）, who was indicted in August last year on charges of sexually abusing six children. A verdict on the case is expected next month.

He is also being investigated in a separate case which involves at least 20 allegations.

The suspect was investigated multiple times for sexual abuse against minors by the authorities. The first complaints were filed in June 2022, but Mao continued to teach at the Taipei Piramide School （台北市私立培諾米達幼兒園）, which was owned by his mother, until being detained in July last year.

On Thursday, parents of the alleged victims, as well as non-governmental organizations and lawmakers criticized the Taipei City government, questioning whether the incidents could have been prevented if it had been more proactive.

Taiwan People’s Party （TPP） Chairman Ko Wen-je （柯文哲）, who was the mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022, said there is room for the government to improve.

The TPP is planning to propose more comprehensive law amendments to protect children more effectively without panicking parents or prejudging the outcome of similar cases, Ko said.

Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Legislator Lin Yueh-chin （林月琴） said the parents do not need an apology, but they want to know the truth.

“Mayor Chiang only provided some vague explanations, but he did not say what the city government would do to handle the matter. Does he think the case would be closed just by making an apology?” she said.

Lin also said she could not accept Ko’s explanation that “people had made prejudgements before the trial.”

“After those incidents took place, kids went home to tell their parents of pain in the genital area, but there are many areas of the preschool that are not covered by surveillance cameras,” she said.

“City officials should have ordered an investigation and conducted an on-site inspection. Instead, they did not believe the children and said they might have made false accusations. When more evidence surfaced, no city officials took any responsibility,” Lin said.

When the case began to receive attention, Lin said she was serving on a Taipei City committee on education and childcare workers who were being investigated for alleged misconduct, “The committee reviewed ‘Case A’ linking Mao with the six children at the Taipei Piramide School.”

“It was due to my efforts looking into what happened which ensured it went forward for judicial investigation. Requests made by lawyers and the Garden of Hope Foundation （勵馨基金會） succeeded in confiscating Mao’s mobile phone and computer, uncovering more than 600 sexual videos of children,” Lin said.

“Before I left to become a DPP legislator-at-large, there was another pending case labeled ‘Case B’ in which the parents of seven children filed reports on allegations of misconduct. Later when I followed up on this case I found that it had been dismissed, without further investigation,” she said.

Legislator DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi （吳沛憶）, who represents Taipei City’s 5th Electorate District, said the Taipei City government should provide counselling services for the families affected, and conduct a full investigation and present the result to the public to reveal the truth of what had taken place.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES