Twenty current and former employees at two Tainan elementary schools have been reprimanded for failing to report the alleged sexual misconduct of a coworker for more than two decades, authorities said last week.
The alleged sexual misconduct by Chang Po-sheng (張博勝), a recipient of an “outstanding teacher award,” began in 2000, but did not come to light until 2019, and last year he was indicted over a sexual harassment case dating back to 2017, according to media reports and Tainan District Court records.
Court records show that 31 students have been identified as alleged victims of Chang.
After conducting an investigation, the Tainan Bureau of Education on Tuesday said that 17 people still employed as educators, including a school principal and homeroom teachers, were aware of Chang’s misconduct, but failed to notify authorities in a timely manner and have been punished.
Chang, 51, was dismissed from his post in May last year and banned from being employed at any educational institution nationwide, the bureau said.
The outstanding teacher recognition Chang received has been revoked and he must return his prize money and certificate, it added.
One school principal received a demerit and has been informed that he would be transferred, the bureau said, adding that three retired teachers have also been asked to return their year-end bonuses and performance review bonuses paid during the years they failed to report Chang’s misconduct.
Chang allegedly committed 32 incidences of sexual assault or harassment, according to the outcome of a Control Yuan investigation.
Chang was also involved in nine cases where he allegedly gave inappropriate physical punishments to 29 students, in addition to other misconduct, the Control Yuan said.
To prevent similar incidents, the bureau said it has teamed up with schools in the city to institutionalize sexual misconduct investigation and disciplinary proceedings, while regulations, including one requiring that students never be left alone in a classroom with a teacher, have also been put in place.
In October last year, the Tainan District Court sentenced Chang to four years and 10 months in prison for misconduct spanning 20 years, which involved kissing female students and touching their private parts.
Chang is appealing the decision to the High Court.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS