Two educators who allegedly mistreated children at a preschool in Taipei have been charged with offenses against child development, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
The two women, surnamed Shen (沈) and Cheng (鄭), were accused of abusing four children at a preschool in Zhongshan District (中山) from Sept. 5 to Oct. 20 last year.
The pair allegedly taped children’s mouths and hands, put tape in front of them to intimidate them, and hit the children on their heads and other parts of their bodies, prosecutors said.
Photo: Chien Li-chung, Taipei Times
Suspecting something was wrong, the parents of one of the preschoolers placed an audio recording device in their child’s school bag.
The recording captured Shen and Cheng yelling, slamming tables and sounds of violence mixed with children’s cries, prosecutors said.
The parents asked the preschool director to provide surveillance footage from the classroom, which showed the two women abusing the children, they said.
Some of the children exhibited tendencies to harm themselves, prosecutors said.
The children were sent to counseling, and were found to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including anxiety, night terrors, a lack of security and fear of attack, they said.
All of the children at the time were under three years old — an important stage of physical and emotional development, they said.
If found guilty the two women could be sentenced to six months to five years in jail.
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