Taipei Basketball Coach Accused of Filming, Sexually Assaulting 53 Children; Prosecutors Seek Severe Sentence

(Central News Agency, Taipei, 14th, by Lin Chang-shun and Chen Yu-ting) A man surnamed Chi, an external basketball coach at a Taipei elementary school, is suspected of sexually assaulting and molesting children, and filming child sexual abuse material, with as many as 53 victims. The Shilin District Prosecutors Office has indicted him on charges including violations of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act and has asked the court to impose a severe sentence.

During the investigation, prosecutors successfully applied to the court to have Chi detained. After the case was transferred for trial, the Shilin District Court ruled yesterday to continue his detention.

The Taipei City Department of Education stated that although the case has not yet reached a final verdict in the legal process, to protect campus safety, it completed an administrative investigation in the shortest possible time. This included firing the involved coach within one day of receiving the report late last year and, based on the number of known victims, imposing a lifetime ban from teaching and a fine of NT$21 million.

The Department of Education said it will closely follow the judicial progress and fully cooperate with the investigation. If further illegal acts are discovered, it will impose strict penalties. It will also continue to strengthen the screening of campus personnel, educational training, and reporting mechanisms, and implement positive discipline and legal education to ensure students' right to education and campus safety.

Furthermore, the Taipei City Department of Social Welfare announced on March 30, in accordance with the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act, that Chi, during his tenure at a Taipei elementary school last year, repeatedly and secretly filmed students changing clothes, using the toilet, and their private parts with his mobile phone in the school's restrooms, constituting sexual harassment.

The announcement also noted that Chi engaged in acts of illegally filming and collecting personal image data without the students' consent, in violation of the Personal Data Protection Act, affecting a total of 42 students.

According to the indictment, in June and July of last year, Chi created an Instagram account, used a girl's photo as his profile picture, and pretended to be a girl to befriend female children and teenagers under the ages of 14 and 18. He then took the opportunity to propose exchanging nude photos, causing the victims to take and send him self-portraits of their exposed sexual organs via Instagram.

The prosecution's investigation found that Chi used his position to film the process of sexually assaulting a child at his residence in August of last year. In November of last year, he also took advantage of an outing with another child, where they stayed in the same hotel, to molest the child and film the act with his phone.

Additionally, between 2024 and 2025, Chi took advantage of moments when children were not paying attention to secretly film their sexual images in female restrooms or shower rooms.

The Shilin District Prosecutors Office concluded its investigation on the 13th and indicted Chi for offenses including using fraudulent means to cause children to self-produce sexual images, filming child sexual images under the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act, violations of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act, and the Criminal Code offenses of an adult intentionally committing sexual intercourse by taking advantage of a child and committing indecent acts against a child under 14.

Prosecutors pointed out that Chi, to satisfy his own desires and disregarding the young victims' mental well-being and healthy personality development, committed these crimes while the victims were accustomed to obeying his instructions. This has caused severe adverse effects on the victims' physical and mental health and personality development, casting a long-lasting shadow on their minds. His actions have seriously corrupted the morals of a teacher and betrayed the educational mission entrusted to teachers by parents and society, causing extremely significant harm.

Prosecutors stated that the number of victims in this case is as high as 53, and the number of explicit photos and video files filmed by Chi is in the thousands, with the crimes spanning several years. The circumstances of the crime are clearly severe, and they ask the court to impose a heavy sentence as a deterrent. (Editor: Hsiao Po-wen) 1150514