Legislature increases penalties for abuse of children under 7 years

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) An amendment to the Criminal Code to increase penalties by up to half for individuals found guilty of abusing children under the age of seven or engaging in acts that impair their physical or mental health or development, or result in death or serious injury, cleared the legislative floor on Tuesday.

The amendment adds a provision to Article 286 of the Criminal Code.

Under the article, a person who mistreats a minor under the age of 18 or impairs their mental or physical health or development shall be imprisoned for six months to five years.

A person who commits an offense that results in the death of a child under the age of 18 shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or imprisoned for a minimum of 10 years. In cases resulting in serious physical injury, the person shall be imprisoned for five to 12 years, according to the article.

The legislative explanation of the new provision said that as children under the age of seven lack capacity, if a person commits any of the crimes stipulated in the article against a child in that age group, the existing penalties are insufficiently severe for such flagrant crimes.

Moreover, according to statistics on the age distribution of victims in cases prosecuted under this article by district prosecutors offices in Taiwan over the past three years, more than half of the victims were under the age of seven, which further indicates a need to focus on these types of cases, it added.