Baseball coach in Taiwan charged for sexually assaulting 41 students
A Little League baseball coach in Taiwan has been charged with sexually assaulting 41 students over seven years, with some victims as young as four years old.
Taichung City Councillor Jiang Heshu (transliterated from Mandarin) revealed the shocking case in Dec last year.
From 2018 until Oct last year, the coach whose name has not been disclosed, allegedly committed a range of horrific acts, including touching the children’s genitals, forcing oral sex, and instructing them to touch each other and perform anal intercourse.
Taichung City Councillor Jiang Heshu. Source: ETtoday
If the children refused to comply, he would threaten to bar them from playing baseball.
The victims’ parents filed a police report, leading to the coach’s arrest on 21 November. The local court then ordered his detainment without allowing any visitors.
Youngest victim was about four years old
In a recently concluded investigation, the Central Prosecutor’s Office determined that the baseball coach was suspected of committing molestation, forced sexual intercourse, and filming sexual images of the children.
The baseball coach was prosecuted for 90 counts of sexually assaulting 41 students.
The investigation revealed that:
- 39 children were molested 60 times,
- 10 were assaulted 30 times, and
- 11 were filmed in 34 sexual videos.
The coach committed his crimes in multiple locations, including school dormitories, baseball classroom and lounge, inside a moving vehicle, hotels, and even his students’ cars and homes.
In 2020, he molested a kindergarten student who was about four to five years old at another student’s home, where he also molested five other children.
The exact timings of some crimes were uncovered because the coach took photos of his acts.
He was also found to have molested children three times while travelling abroad for competitions.
School failed to do background checks & supervise staff
The Taichung City Education Bureau released a statement confirming they had terminated the coach’s employment and conducted a comprehensive review, as reported by local media TVBS.
The investigation revealed that the school had failed to conduct proper background checks on the coach before and during his employment, allowing him to continue working despite his crimes.
In an assessment meeting held on 18 Mar, it was decided that the former principal failed to supervise his staff and he was given two serious warnings.
The current principal was also determined to be responsible for poor management of employees and was given a warning.
Furthermore, the Education Bureau found that three former academic directors and three ex-sports team leaders did not check their non-establishment staff.
The school will form a teacher performance evaluation committee on March 20 for review, TVBS reported.
Also read: 7 fathers in Japan rape own daughters, then share clips of assault in a private group chat
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Featured image adapted from Mohamed salem on Canva.
