The Nantou District Prosecutors’ Office has opened an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against an elementary-school principal by his former students, the office said on Thursday.
The Nantou County Department of Education said it has asked the principal, surnamed Liu (劉), to take a break from his duties and has established an investigation taskforce in accordance with the Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法).
The actions followed accusations by two women on Wednesday that Liu violated them physically when they were in elementary school more than 20 years ago.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Pei-hui (蔡培慧), one of the accusers, born in 1985 and surnamed Chuang (莊), told a news conference that she was sexually abused by Liu in the sixth grade while attending afterschool tutoring provided by the teacher.
After the classes, Liu would drive the students home himself, Chuang said.
She said that while driving her home one day, Liu suddenly grabbed her and stopped her from getting out the car, groping and kissing her against her will.
Chuang said she was able to escape and told her parents what happened, but her parents chose to forgive Liu on the condition that he left the school at the end of the semester.
The second accuser, born in 1988 and surnamed Hsiao (蕭), said she was sexually abused by Liu for an extended period when she was in third grade.
Liu tutored her and her first-grade younger sister at their home, Hsiao said.
After a couple of sessions, Liu began asking the siblings to sit on his lap while he taught, she said.
Liu later on started asking her younger sibling to leave the room to get him a glass of water, and used the time to forcibly kiss Hsiao, she said.
The abuse continued for a period of time before Liu progressed to groping Hsiao during their sessions, she alleged.
Hsiao said the last straw was when Liu asked her to get water so he could be alone with her younger sister. Hsiao said she delegated the chore to her sister, took her place and later told her parents what had been happening.
Liu dismissed the accusations, saying they were false.
In other news, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on Thursday said that the city is investigating multiple sexual misconduct allegations against a security guard employed by its Parks and Street Lights Office.
Two of the accusers said the security guard, a man in his 60s, engaged in verbal harassment and touched multiple female colleagues without their consent.
The accusers said they had waited until now to come forward as they feared being punished by their supervisors, who they said had repeatedly questioned their intentions and asked them not to approach a Taipei city councilor for help.
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