TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A taekwondo coach has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for sexually assaulting 11 girls who were his students.
Over four years, the man surnamed Lu (呂) committed over 100 criminal acts, reported CNA. On Jan. 30, a New Taipei District Court ruled that Lu was guilty of violating the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), among other crimes, and sentenced the defendant to 29 years and six months in prison.
The court said Lu had taken advantage of his position as an authority figure to sexually assault, molest, and secretly photograph his female students. The crimes were committed from 2019 to 2022 and the victims ranged from second-grade elementary school students to third-year middle school students.
The court said Lu resigned from the Taekwondo school on Oct. 15, 2022, and the parents of the victims filed complaints with law enforcement the same year, leading to an investigation. Police seized evidence such as Lu's computer hard drive, external hard drive, and photos from his mobile phone, and recovered deleted records from these devices.
Lu was indicted in August 2023 for aggravated forcible sexual intercourse (強制性交罪), aggravated compulsory indecency (強制猥褻罪), and violating the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act. Lu was indicted on 109 total counts, with one victim suffering 51 offenses.
The verdict stated that the defendant initially repeatedly denied the crime and even claimed he was falsely accused due to a dispute over management rights. It was only after the restoration of the deleted photos that Lu finally admitted to taking them.
The defendant was not deemed to be sufficiently remorseful and his tendency to rationalize the offenses indicated a significant degree of malicious intent. The parents were unwilling to reconcile and asked the court to impose severe penalties, though the ruling is subject to appeal by the defendant.