Taichung mayor mulls stricter reporting rules amid coach molestation case

Taipei, Dec. 18 (CNA) Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said Wednesday that the city government is considering tightening reporting standards for teacher eligibility following allegations that an elementary school baseball coach molested dozens of children under his care.

The current reporting thresholds are too high, which may allow offenders to slip through the cracks, Lu said at a city council session, without providing specific criteria being considered for the new rules.

Under the Teachers' Act, educators found guilty of sexual assault, harassment, or bullying by a school's gender equity committee face permanent dismissal or a ban from teaching for one to four years.

Lu's comments followed the public revelation on Tuesday of a case in which at least 31 elementary school students are alleged to have been molested by the coach.

This allegations shocked the public, especially given that the coach had been convicted of forced indecency in 2012, although his sentence was suspended for five years and thereafter expunged.

In response, the Taichung Bureau of Education explained that when the coach was hired in 2019, the school conducted a check against the Ministry of Education's database of individuals banned from working in education, but no red flags were found.

However, the Ministry of Justice uploaded new records to the system in 2021, and an investigation is underway to determine whether the school conducted regular follow-up checks, as required by law.

According to the Federation of Education Unions, it is common practice for schools to check the database every March and September.

However, it is unclear whether the baseball coach was ever placed on the Ministry of Education banned teacher's list after the court case in 2012.

Meanwhile, the Taichung Police Department clarified that its criminal record checks typically do not include information on suspended sentences, as long as the individual has not violated the terms of their probation.