Two Public Servants Indicted for Leaking Confidential Information in Taipei High School Sports Team Bullying Case

(CNA reporter Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei, June 15) — Students from a high school sports team in Taipei filed complaints with the city government regarding bullying and other issues, but later retracted their statements under alleged pressure from the accused. After investigation, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office today indicted Wang, a former case handler at the Department of Education, and Lin, the school's director of student affairs, on suspicion of leaking confidential information. The prosecution has also requested a summary judgment and reduced sentence for Lin.

Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei and the Humanistic Education Foundation held a press conference at the city council in January 2024. Chien stated that students had filed complaints via the city’s 1999 hotline and online platforms, alleging sexual harassment and bullying within the school's sports teams. However, the team's head coach quickly obtained the complaint details and pressured the students to withdraw their reports.

Chien said that after being reprimanded, the students applied to withdraw their complaints. Upon receiving the withdrawal notice, the education bureau’s case handler contacted the school, which responded that it was merely a student prank. Based on this, the handler closed the case. Chien criticized the education bureau for negligence and suggested possible leaks by staff members.

Following the exposure of the case, the Taipei City Government’s Anti-Corruption Division launched an investigation, administratively punished the involved civil servants, and referred Wang and Lin—suspected of leaking the complainants’ identities—to the prosecutors.

The Taipei prosecutors found that Wang, then a case officer in the Sports and Health Care Section of the Department of Education, contacted and sent a screenshot of the complaint to Yang, the school’s sports director, on the same day the report was received, in order to verify whether the accused Tai, a coach, held teaching qualifications.

According to the investigation, Yang demanded that the students withdraw their complaints that evening. The next day, upon learning from Lin, the school’s director of student affairs, that another student had filed a complaint by phone, Yang directly summoned both complainants for questioning. Both students subsequently called the 1999 hotline to request withdrawal of their complaints, leading the education bureau to discontinue follow-up actions.

Prosecutors concluded that Wang and Lin violated their duty by leaking personally identifiable information of complainants obtained through official duties. Today, both were indicted under Article of the Criminal Code concerning public officials leaking non-defense-related secrets. As Lin confessed before the offense was discovered, prosecutors have requested a summary judgment and a reduced sentence from the court. (Editor: Lee Heng-shan) 1150615

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