Xu Nan, who works in the semiconductor industry and attends seminary in Hsinchu County, has long been abusing and beating a 5-year-old forest boy who was entrusted with his care, causing the boy rib fractures, multiple bruises all over his body, and even hitting his head, causing a temporal bone fracture and intracranial hemorrhage. (File photo)
Xu Nan, who works in the semiconductor industry and attends seminary in Hsinchu County, has long been abusing and beating a 5-year-old forest boy who was entrusted with his care, causing the boy rib fractures, multiple bruises all over his body, and even hitting his head, causing a temporal bone fracture and intracranial hemorrhage. After the boy showed symptoms such as unsteady walking, limp body, and inability to speak normally, Xu Nan did not send him to the hospital immediately. He and his wife sent the boy to the hospital about four hours later. The Hsinchu District Court sentenced him to one year in prison for the crime of intentional injury to a child by an adult. After appeal, the High Court revoked the sentence and commuted the sentence to 11 months in prison. The entire case remains open to appeal.
The first-instance judgment pointed out that Xu Nan and his wife have been entrusted by the Hsinchu Branch of the Taiwan Children and Family Support Foundation to take care of the boy surnamed Lin who was born in August 2017 since May 2022, with Xu Nan serving as the main caregiver. In the month before 5 pm on February 1, 2023, Xu Nan violently assaulted the boy at his residence many times, causing a fracture of the ninth rib on the left side and multiple bruises all over the body.
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At about 5:00 pm on February 1 of the same year, Xu Nan hit the boy's head, causing linear fractures of the temporal bone, intracranial hemorrhage and other injuries. The boy gradually appeared unsteady, paralyzed, unable to speak normally and drowsy. Xu Nan knew that the injury was serious, so in order to avoid being noticed by others after being sent to the hospital, he did not seek medical treatment immediately. Instead, he placed the boy on the toilet floor of his residence to apply ice. It was not until 9 that night that he and his wife sent the boy to the hospital. Xu's wife was found not guilty in the first instance.
Xu Nan denied committing the crime during the first instance trial. The Hsinchu District Court found that Lin Tong suffered multiple bruises of various sizes and old rib fractures. It was clear that Lin Tong had been exposed to repeated external force for a long time, which had a serious impact on his body and mind. Xu Nan denied the crime and used unreasonable accidental circumstances to shirk responsibility. His defense was contradictory and difficult to accept. Xu Nan shakes the core value of the society to jointly safeguard the protection of young children. Xu Nan was sentenced to one year in prison for the crime of intentional injury to children as an adult.
After the case was appealed, the High Court's collegial panel held that there was no reason for Xu Nan's appeal to deny the crime. However, the first instance found that the boy's brain injury was "caused by an unknown cause of impact and Xu Nan's delay in seeking medical treatment." This part of the determination was wrong, so the original verdict was revoked and the sentence was re-sentenced.
The collegial bench of the High Court stated that Xu Nan repeatedly injured and abused the boy who was a foster child, seriously affecting his physical and mental integrity. After the boy's head injury was treated, his brain still had abnormal discharges, and he had to go back for regular check-ups and take anti-epileptic drugs to gradually improve. Xu Nan always denied the crime after committing the crime, but during the second trial, he remitted 500,000 yuan to the boy's social bureau resettlement account as compensation.
The High Court collegial panel considered that only Xu Nan appealed in this case, and the original judgment was not revoked due to improper application of the law. According to the "principle of prohibition of change without benefit," the second instance could not impose a sentence heavier than the one-year prison sentence in the first instance. After considering the relevant circumstances, Xu Nan was sentenced to 11 months in prison. The entire case can still be appealed to the third instance.
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