A man in Kaohsiung who physically abused his one-year-old infant son to the extent that he was left partially paralyzed has been sentenced to jail for eight years and 10 months, the Kaohsiung District Court announced on Saturday.
The 23-year-old father, identified only by his last name, Wu (吳), was found guilty of causing serious injury to a minor, the court said, adding that the infant’s brain injury was so serious it had paralyzed the left side of his body.
During the hearing, Wu said he did not know any better because he received the same kind of physical abuse when he was growing up.
Photo: Taipei Times
Although the father expressed remorse multiple times, the court said his actions had already caused irreparable damage to the infant, and that he blatantly lacked empathy. He chose to pick on someone weaker than himself, the court said, adding that it believed the man would repeat the same behavior in the future.
Wu rents an apartment, and used to run an online goods store, the court said. He worked at night and slept during the day, often complaining of sleep deprivation because his son would keep him awake.
He began forcing his son to stand at attention in August last year, but the punishments later intensified, and he began whipping the boy’s legs with a plastic rod, or would burn him with a cigarette butt, the court said.
If the child cried, Wu would strike his head, or other parts of the body, which often led to bruising, court documents said.
On Nov. 10 last year, when the infant was one, he was rushed to hospital by his father and mother after a brutal beating that caused brain and retinal hemorrhaging, fractures and multiple bruises on his head, the court said.
The boy was discharged on Dec. 13 after his condition improved and the incident was reported by the hospital to the police.
After questioning the man, the case was handed over to Kaohsiung prosecutors, who, following an investigation, indicted Wu for attempted homicide and for impairing the physical and mental development of a young child.
The child’s mother was not indicted by the prosecutors.
The boy’s brain injury caused left hemiplegia — paralysis in the left side of the body — and developmental delays that would require him to receive intensive physical, functional and speech therapy.
In the long run, the infant could suffer from long-term disabilities, such as epilepsy, the court added.
However, the case can still be appealed.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS