Court upholds life, 18-year sentences for sisters in infant abuse case

Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling sentencing two sisters, both formerly registered nurses surnamed Liu (劉), to life imprisonment and 18 years, respectively, for torturing a one-year-old boy in their care to death.

In its ruling, the High Court dismissed an appeal by the sisters against a verdict that sentenced one of them, Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱), to life and her younger sister, Liu Juo-lin (劉若琳), to 18 years on charges of child abuse leading to death.

The original verdict was handed down by a panel of professional and citizen judges at the Taipei District Court in May.

The High Court ruling can still be appealed.

In the original ruling, the district court described the sisters' actions as cruel and deeply harmful, saying they "derived pleasure from abuse."

Hired by the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF), the older sister was assigned to provide full-time foster care for a one-year-old boy nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴).

Kai Kai's mother went missing after giving birth to him in February 2022 in New Taipei. With the father's whereabouts unknown, custody of the boy was transferred to his grandmother, who expressed her intention to place him up for adoption in June 2023. The case was subsequently taken over by the CWLF.

Liu Tsai-hsuan and her younger sister, Liu Juo-lin, who frequently assisted in caring for children, were indicted in April 2024 for repeatedly abusing, restraining and injuring the child between September and December 2023.

According to the ruling, the sisters not only beat and starved Kai Kai, but also tied him up with ropes and cloth, bent his body forcefully, and covered his eyes with a face mask. He suffered at least 42 abuse-related injuries.

Kai Kai was found unconscious on Dec. 24, 2023, and later died from his injuries after the sisters took him to a local hospital.

The Liu sisters' indictment in April 2024 followed an investigation that dominated the news in Taiwan and brought the foster care system under increasing scrutiny.

The sisters were also indicted in January 2025 for allegedly abusing two other children, a newborn baby and six-month-old infant, in their care in 2023. The trial in that case is ongoing.

Meanwhile, a CWLF volunteer who visited Kai Kai three times in foster care, and who is accused of knowing something was wrong but failing to report it in her visit records, was indicted in August 2024 for negligent homicide and causing harm by making a false entry in occupational documents. Her trial is ongoing.