Taiwan Church News
3468 Edition
August 13 – 19, 2018
Topical News
An Acquittal Of A Rapist Abusing His Step-Daughter For Seven Years Causes A Big Furor In Taiwan
Reported by Chiu Kuo-rong
On August 8, the Garden of Hope Foundation (GOH) holds a press conference protesting an unbelievable acquittal of a rapist who had abused his 12-year-old step-daughter over one hundred times for a long period of seven years. The odd thing of this case is that, though the rapist was convicted in the first and second instance for a sentence of 28 years of jail, the rapist is finally granted an unusual acquittal in a high court retrial on July 6, according to GHF.
Lawyer Lai Fang-yu points out that there are three questionable reasons argued by the high court to acquit the very rapist: first, the witnesses did not see those abuses directly at criminal sites, therefore their witness statements cannot be read as first-hand reports of criminal facts; second, the consistency of those statements delivered by the witnesses and the victim cannot provide any further solid evidence for sexual abuse; third, an psychological evaluation of the victim cannot be seen instead as a proof of criminal rape.
High court’s requirement of direct witness at sites on these cases of sexual abuse was criticized by Lawyer Lai as lack of common sense. Because most sexual abuse cases are mostly happened in the family or private space, usually it is very difficult to have a third witness, Lawyer Lai say, adding that that’s why most cases of sexual abuse rely on indirect statements, experiential evidence and supporting witness.
Regarding the validity of psychological evaluation in sexual abuse cases, Ms Chi Hui-jung – CEO of GOH – blasted the arrogance of high court’s ruling of ignoring the real life’s hardships suffered by the victims. If the judges cannot understand the meanings of these psychological reports, at least they should invite the psychologist to explain for them how those survivor feel after the trauma , Ms Chi says.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
photograph credit to Garden of Hope Foundation
