High Court revises child sexual abuse ruling, confirms 544 offenses

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Wednesday revised an earlier ruling in a major child sexual abuse case involving Mao Chun-shen (毛畯珅), the son of a former Taipei preschool operator, confirming 35 victims and 544 offenses, with a cumulative sentencing calculation of 2,878 years and four months.

The case concerns Mao's alleged abuse of children at a privately run preschool in Taipei, as well as the illicit filming of minors on school premises and in public locations. The court said the offenses involved 35 identifiable victims.

The ruling revises a September 2025 Taipei District Court judgment, which had identified 40 victims and 510 offenses and calculated a cumulative sentence of 3,552 years.

According to the High Court, the offenses include sexual assault of children, production of child sexual abuse images, illegal possession of such material, and privacy violations involving surveillance footage.

The court said the crimes were committed between 2021 and 2023, affecting both preschool students and minors at school and in public areas such as streets, restaurants and parks.

The High Court said parts of the lower court's findings were erroneous, including both guilty and not-guilty determinations, and therefore partially overturned the earlier ruling.

The case remains under appeal, and a final combined sentence will be determined after all related judgments are finalized.

Mao, in his early 30s, was previously sentenced in a related case to 28 years and eight months in prison for offenses involving six victims, a ruling that has already been upheld by the Supreme Court.

Legal experts said that under Taiwanese law, although cumulative sentences for multiple convictions may total thousands of years, the maximum enforceable prison term cannot exceed 30 years.