New Taipei City government reprimanded over 2023 preschool abuse case

Taipei, Aug. 22 (CNA) The New Taipei City government has been reprimanded for mishandling a case of alleged child abuse at a preschool in the city's Banqiao District last year, the watchdog arm of the central government said Thursday.

Citing the findings of its probe into the matter, the Control Yuan said the city government failed to properly investigate reports to the police last year by several parents about suspected drugging of their children at the private preschool in Banqiao.

The city government's response, even amid the public furor that erupted after the allegations were made in May last year, was inadequate and undermined parents' confidence in the local government, Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said at a news conference in Taipei.

The Control Yuan's findings were released at the press conference by Yeh and his colleagues Tsai Chung-yi (蔡崇義) and Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) following the watchdog's review of government agencies' role in the case.

The decision to reprimand the New Taipei City government was approved on Aug. 15 by the Control Yuan's Committee on Educational and Cultural Affairs, according to a statement released Thursday.

Although the city government inspected the preschool on May 15, 2023, the city's Education Department only carried out general checks and it failed to follow standard procedure of securing the surveillance camera footage and conducting interviews to check the allegations made by the parents, Yeh said.

The report on the May 15 inspection listed only four surveillance cameras at the preschool, but the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office seized 13 during its search of the premises on May 18, according to the Control Yuan.

Crucial evidence was therefore missing in the city government's investigation into the allegations that the children were being given sedatives at the preschool, it said, adding that the findings lacked credibility when they were released two months later.

After the failure to obtain crucial evidence in the case, the city's Education Department and prosecutors' office engaged in finger pointing at each other, the Control Yuan said.

As part of the Control Yuan's decision in the case, it has asked the New Taipei City government and the Ministry of Justice to review and improve their respective operations to prevent any recurrence of such a case.

The Control Yuan launched an investigation into the case on July 6 last year after it received complaints from the parents about the New Taipei City government's handling of the matter. A few days later, on July 12, New Taipei City prosecutors said they had decided not to bring criminal charges against the preschool principal or the eight other staff members.

At Thursday's news conference, Yeh said that during the city government's investigation, it was communicating with the parents only through the preschool, even when issuing notifications that the children would be tested for sedatives.

The city government further mishandled the release of the test results and the arrangements for the transfer of the children to other preschools, he said, adding that a public furor arose amid the media coverage of the case.

The city government released the results of the drug tests on June 8, before its investigation was completed and without consulting the parents, with total disregard for the opinions of experts, who had said that the minute traces of the barbiturates found in the tests were inconclusive, according to Yeh.

Last September, the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office was instructed to reopen its investigation into the case, he noted, adding that hopefully the prosecutors will find the facts with the help of the surveillance camera footage they obtained.

Meanwhile, Tsai said while it is not difficult to recover the footage that was tampered with, it still has not been established whether the children were abused.