Cram school teacher gets 12 years for sexual abuse of students

Taipei, May 29 (CNA) A cram school teacher was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for the sexual abuse of minors and related offenses, including deepfake porn actions.

In the case, which was heard in the Taichung District Court, the man was accused of molesting one underage student, secretly filming underage students, and also creating sexually explicit videos of students with the use of digital technology.

The man, surnamed Chen (陳), had been teaching at various cram schools in Taipei since 2015 and began working as a substitute teacher at a Taipei elementary school in 2019, according to the indictment.

His first known sexual abuse offense, uncovered by investigators, occurred in 2015 when he molested a female student at a cram school and filmed the act, prosecutors said.

Between 2021 and 2023, he invited students on several excursions, during which he secretly filmed underage girls while they were showering, the indictment said.

With the use of digital technology, he manipulated those videos to make them look as if the girls were engaged in sex acts, then he uploaded them to illegal sites, including Chuangyi Sifang (創意私房), a platform that facilitated the sharing of child pornography, according to the indictment.

Chen was caught in 2024 during an investigation by Taichung District Prosecutors into Chuangyi Sifang. During a raid on his residence and office, investigators seized film evidence and several mini cameras, the indictment said.

Chen was indicted in November 2024 on charges of molestation of minors under the age of 14, illegal distribution of sex videos, and illegal recording of intimate images.

The number of deepfake porn victims totaled 30, including 25 underage students, according to the indictment.

The guilty verdict and the 12-year prison sentence imposed on Chen by the Taichung District Court on Thursday can be appealed.