The Taoyuan District Court on Thursday handed down a guilty verdict in a child abuse case that revealed local police had allegedly used a 13-year-old minor in a botched sting operation resulting in her sexual assault.
A man surnamed Chang (張) in early November 2020 used a dating app to solicit the victim — a minor identified by the pseudonym Hsiao-chun (小君) — for sex in exchange for NT$5,000, the court said in the verdict.
When Hsiao-chun tried backing out of the arranged encounter, Chang used nude pictures of her that he had previously obtained to blackmail her into meeting him, which the child reported to Taoyuan Police Department’s Jhongli Precinct, it said.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
The detectives handling the case convinced the child with assurances of her personal safety to take part in a sting operation to expose Chang, which took place on Nov. 8 that year at a fast food chain, the court said.
However, Chang picked up the child with his car and drove to a spot near the venue, and the undercover police officers, who were on foot, were unable to catch up with Chang’s car, the court found.
Chang forced the child to perform oral sex before returning her to the restaurant, where he was arrested by police for child exploitation, it said.
Chang was convicted of attempted solicitation of a minor and creating obscene digital recordings of a minor, it said, adding that the charges carried a combined sentence of eight years in prison.
Meanwhile, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office said a separate case against the officers is being pursued based on the victim’s testimony.
The precinct said a probe is to be opened to determine whether any misconduct or breach of protocol occurred during the operation, adding that it would cooperate with the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office.
The child was repeatedly instructed not to get into the man’s car and to stay within the sight of the police officers, a spokesperson of the precinct said on Thursday.
“The girl suddenly got into the car,” the spokesperson said, adding that the two police officers tried to stop the car, but they were not fast enough.
By the time the duo had got in their police car to give chase, the perpetrator’s vehicle had already returned to the restaurant, the spokesperson said.
The Taoyuan Police Department on Saturday issued a statement apologizing for its two policemen’s neglect of the child’s personal safety.
Commenting on the case, Taoyuan-based lawyer Fan Kang-hsiang (范綱祥) said yesterday that there is currently no specific law that governs whether the police are allowed to recruit minors to go undercover in investigations.
However, under the Civil Code, those who intentionally or negligently infringe upon the rights of others could be liable for damages. Given the circumstances of this case, the police officers are highly likely to incur liability for damages, he added.
Additionally, the police are prohibited from inducing people to commit crimes or engage in other unlawful activities when they exercise their power, in accordance with the Police Power Exercise Act (警察職權行使法), Fan said.
Additional reporting by CNA
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS