The former principal of an elementary school in Nantou County was impeached by the Control Yuan on Thursday due to his indictment in multiple sexual assault cases involving children and for allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In a statement, the Control Yuan said it initially censured the school head, surnamed Liu (劉), on Sept. 7 last year after he was accused of attempting to obstruct the investigation and allegedly collaborated with local elected representatives to pressure other school officials and children.
The impeachment has been referred to the Disciplinary Court, which is to determine whether Liu would face a fine of up to NT$1 million (US$31,809), along with any other potential punishments.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Control Yuan members Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華), Wang Li-chen (王麗珍) and Chang Chu-fang (張菊芳) said that Liu, who worked as an educator for more than 34 years, took advantage of his position to abuse students, sexually harassing and assaulting more than 10 children younger than 14.
The cases first came to light in June last year, when several students disclosed sexual misconduct by the then-principal, including nonconsensual kissing, touching and hugging.
An investigation launched by the county government uncovered 29 cases as of December last year, although the local gender equality committee mainly focused on 10 cases, in which former elementary-school students alleged sexual assault, with three involving sexual harassment.
Based on material collected by the local government, the Control Yuan said Liu excelled at networking and building trust with parents, while exploiting opportunities to teach or care for students to engage in sexual assault and develop unbalanced power dynamics.
The nonconsensual sexual abuse by Liu has caused serious trauma among the students, it added.
Liu was terminated in early December last year after the county’s gender equality committee verified his sexual misconduct. He was also prohibited from applying for retirement and related benefits.
Liu was indicted by the Nantou District Prosecutors’ Office on Nov. 26 last year for obscenity, nonconsensual touching and rape, the prosecutors’ office said.
He has been in detention since October.
According to the indictment, Liu, who began teaching in 1994, became a stand-in principal in 2010.
His sexual misconduct reportedly began as far back as 1996 and involved inappropriately touching students thighs, hands, breasts and stomachs, while engaging in forcible kissing, it said.
A student said she was pressed against a sofa while Liu was touching and kissing her.
Another accuser said that Liu forcibly French-kissed her in a sports equipment storeroom.
The most severe case occurred when a sixth-grade student, 12 years old at the time, was reportedly taken to a motel by Liu where she was sexually assaulted, followed by a second attack later the same day at the side of an industrial road in Jhushan Township (竹山).
Liu asked the girl the following day whether there was blood in her underwear, and provided her with birth control pills, the indictment said.
Throughout the interrogation, Liu denied any wrongdoing. He also requested that the court summon witnesses.
The request was eventually rejected by the prosecutors in charge, saying that the statute of limitations had passed for some of the cases and that the facts of the case would not be made clearer by summoning more witnesses.
Liu’s trial is pending at the Nantou District Court.
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