A total of 34 female employees have been prosecuted so far for the child abuse incident involving the employees of the “Kids Joy” under the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children. One of the defendants was accused of abusing three young children, including vigorously wiping the face with a towel, slapping the back of the head and throwing the young children to the ground. The defendant was charged with three counts of child abuse. The case was originally scheduled to be tried in the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court today (21st), but the defendant pleaded guilty instead. Day sentence, during which the defendant must be remanded in custody.
The 25-year-old defendant, Xie Xiuwei, who has no criminal record, reported to be unemployed (a former child care worker). She was charged with 3 counts of “abuse or neglect of children or juveniles in her custody”. The facts of the case are that the defendant has been working in Tongleju since February 2019. At around 8 a.m. on November 20, 2021, a 1-year-old boy R was in the activity room with other children, and the defendant was sitting behind R. During this period, the defendant suddenly slapped the back of R’s head twice; about 20 minutes later, 13 children The boy was reading and resting in the activity area. The defendant who was arranging the books suddenly grabbed the left arm of an unknown boy aged 3 or below, threw him to the ground and made him cry; 5 days later, at 8 o’clock in the morning, The 3-year-old boy F was in the activity room with 6 young children, and the defendant was sorting things by the trolley. During this period, the defendant suddenly wiped F’s face roughly with a towel for about 1 second, and F cried and walked to the door. The defendant was finally arrested on January 7 last year and admitted to assaulting R after watching the relevant incident footage.
The defense pleaded that the unmarried defendant was no longer able to take care of children after the incident, and worked part-time in a new coronary pneumonia testing center with a monthly income of about 15,000 Hong Kong dollars, but recently lost his job due to the slowdown of the epidemic. The defense pointed out that the three assaults were short-lived, the defendant used little force, and may have been excessively rude, but it was not the most serious incident of its kind. The defense also submitted letters of plea from the defendant’s parents and boyfriend, stating that the defendant himself loves the young children of Xitong Leju and would buy gifts for them at his own expense. The defense emphasized that the defendant’s nature was not bad, and he committed the crime on a whim. Tong Leju itself also had a bad culture. The defendant was exaggerated and eventually committed the crime.
Case No.: KCCC 1884/2022
