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.
‘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
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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
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