Social worker sentenced to 2 years in 'Kai Kai' infant abuse case

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) A social worker was sentenced to two years in prison for negligent homicide Thursday over her failure to report suspicious behavior in the case of a 1-year-old boy who died after repeated abuse by his foster caregiver.

Chen Shang-chieh (陳尚潔), a social worker for the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF), was sentenced by the Taipei District Court in the third conviction stemming from the December 2023 death of an infant known as Kai Kai (剴剴).

She was found not guilty of a separate charge of falsifying records of her foster home visits.

The ruling can be appealed.

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In its verdict, the court faulted Chen for "passive inactivity" in her role overseeing the child's case, despite being the person best-positioned to "piece together the truth" that he was being abused.

When Kai Kai began behaving strangely after being placed with foster caregiver Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱), Chen failed to obtain photos or video evidence and hastily determined it had been caused in his previous foster home, the verdict said.

Similarly, when Kai Kai began suffering from fevers, allergies and unexplained injuries, Chen only discussed it with Liu, and did not insist that he be taken for medical treatment or follow up in any way, the court said.

Given Chen's close contact with Kai Kai during the three times she visited him, she should have detected that his condition had deteriorated after being placed in Liu's care, and either increased the frequency of her visits or made unannounced visits to Liu's home, the verdict said.

Moreover, Chen accepted Liu's requests to put off scheduled home visits, citing reasons such as a power outage or Kai Kai having a fever, thus enabling the "repeated" and "inhumane" abuse he suffered in the months before his death, the verdict said.

The court concluded it was "highly likely" that Kai Kai's death could have been prevented if Chen had proactively followed up on his case, while her failure to do so bore a "strong causal relationship" with his death.

Chen, who gave up a spot in the law department of National Taiwan University to become a social worker, maintained throughout the trial that she too had been deceived by Liu, and was innocent.

Chen argued that Liu had no negative marks on her record as a caregiver and, in any case, her role as an adoption services social worker was to work with children, and not to oversee their caregivers.

Case background

Liu Tsai-hsuan, a former registered nurse, was hired by the CWLF to provide full-time foster care from her home in Taipei's Wenshan District for the one-year-old Kai Kai in September 2023. Liu was frequently assisted by her younger sister Liu Juo-lin (劉若琳).

Kai Kai's mother had gone missing after giving birth to him in February 2022. 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.

According to court documents, the sisters were found to have beaten and starved Kai Kai, 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, an examination after his death found.

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

Liu Tsai-hsuan and Liu Juo-lin were indicted by prosecutors in April 2024 and were sentenced last year to life in prison and 18 years, respectively, for child abuse leading to death.

An appeal by the sisters was dismissed by the Taiwan High Court in January.

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

Reaction

In a statement issued after the ruling, the CWLF reiterated its sorrow over Kai Kai's death and said it had strengthened its oversight processes and risk awareness guidelines in order to prevent such cases in the future.

At the same time, the foundation said it was "deeply pained" by the verdict, which placed full responsibility for Taiwan's "broken social safety net" on front-line social workers.

The CWLF pledged to "accompany the social worker every step of the way" and respect her decision on whether or not to appeal, according to the statement.

Among organizations representing social workers, meanwhile, there were fears that the verdict could spark an exodus from the field, which is already characterized by heavy caseloads and modest salaries.

Specifically, the court's ruling that social workers are legal "guarantors" for the people they work with will put an extreme amount of pressure on them, said Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴), head of the National Federation of Social Workers Associations.

Before the ruling, dozens of people rallied outside the Taipei District Court, calling for Chen to receive a harsh penalty. They reacted with disappointment and anger when the two-year sentence was announced.

Under Taiwan's Criminal Code, negligent homicide is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to NT$500,000 (US$15,827).