The parents of elementary children allegedly sexually abused by a teacher surnamed Hsieh (謝) yesterday accused the school’s principal of trying to cover up the affair and asked the public for help in taking legal action.
The scandal broke in 2007 when the mother of a student at Taichung’s Shang-an Elementary School overheard children talking about the teacher and learned that her child was a possible victim.
“I immediately took my child to the principal and she promised she would take care of the matter,” the mother — who only wished to be known as “Parent A” — told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
However, rather than report the alleged sexual abuse to government agencies within 24 hours for investigation — as required by law — the principal, Hu Shu-chuan (胡淑娟), asked Hsieh to take a long leave and helped him transfer to a nearby school, she said.
The father of a second victim who wished to be known as “Parent B” said the principal asked him not to file a lawsuit against Hsieh, saying he was still young and that it would destroy his career, adding that the parents of two other victims had agreed not to sue.
“She [the principal] said she would ask Hsieh to transfer to another school,” he said. “I refused to go along with this.”
“How can I allow Hsieh to go to another school and abuse more children there?” he asked, adding that after getting in touch with the parents of the other victims he realized that they had not reached an agreement with Hu, nor had they decided not to sue Hsieh.
“Parent B” said his child also informed him that Hsieh not only sexually abused the children, but also took pictures of them while they were being abused.
“I went talk to the principal and she told me she had deleted the pictures,” “Parent B” said. “Hu didn’t tell us the whole story and she destroyed some important evidence by deleting the pictures.”
After talking to more parents, “Parent A” and “Parent B” said they discovered that more children — possibly as many as 10 — had been sexually abused by Hsieh.
Parents of four victims have filed lawsuits against Hsieh and against the school.
Although the parents won the case in the first instance, the verdict against Hsieh and the school was overturned by a higher court, with the judge ruling that the two lawsuits should be filed separately.
As the parents now face NT$290,000 in legal fees, Humanistic Education Foundation executive director Joanna Feng (馮喬蘭), who accompanied the parents at the news conference, called on the public to help by donating NT$100 each to the families.
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