Elementary school teacher sentenced on child molestation verdict

Kaohsiung, June 8 (CNA) The Kaohsiung District Court has sentenced a male elementary school teacher to four years and two months in prison after finding him guilty of child molestation for his actions relative to three young boys.

The court found elementary school teacher Yeh Shang-min (葉尚旻) guilty of two counts of violating the video production provisions of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act and also one count of underage provisions of the Criminal Code.

The district court's ruling, handed down at the end of May, can still be appealed.

According to the court's ruling, Yeh coerced three students into exposing their genitalia and convinced two of them to let him take a photo of them while exposed.

The first incident transpired in 2018, when Yeh was working as a substitute fifth-grade teacher in Hsinchu City, the court found.

The unnamed victim was alone in Yeh's classroom in May 2018 when Yeh convinced him to reveal his genitalia under the guise of a hygiene inspection, the court said.

Yeh took a photo of the boy while he was exposed, and the visual evidence became a part of the Kaohsiung trial after the image was discovered during the investigation.

Yeh later became a full-time elementary school teacher in 2018 in Kaohsiung, where he was found guilty of molesting two other students in 2023, the court found.

Between October and December that year, Yeh coerced two students to each expose themselves to him twice. Yeh acquired a photo of one of the two during their second encounter in December.

While both of the Kaohsiung boys had indicated that they refused Yeh's requests, Yeh used his rapport with the children to pressure them into submitting to his demands, the court found.

According to the verdict, Yeh had built trust with the children by referring to one another privately as father and son.

The guardians of both children reported Yeh and his conduct to the authorities after becoming aware of the incidents.

During his trial, Yeh admitted to looking at the genitals of all three children and taking photos of two of them, but pleaded not guilty to coercion.

He argued that he only asked the boys to remove their garments for either health education purposes or due to the children confiding in him that they were experiencing discomfort around their genitalia.

The court dismissed Yeh's claims based on the evidence presented, however, and determined that he did indeed molest the children.

As Yeh had already reached NT$150,000 (US$4,751) settlements, respectively, with the two Kaohsiung complainants, the court sentenced Yeh to four years and two months in prison.

Besides the settlements, the court's decision was also based on Yeh voluntarily turning in his camera three days after the police confiscated his memory card, and on the fact that Yeh did not have a previous criminal record.

While the court found Yeh's conduct illegal, it also said there was no evidence that Yeh intended to distribute the two photos he had in his possession. There was also no evidence of physical contact, according to the ruling.