Pre-school Child Abuse Scandal: No military officers found involved as investigation deepens
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We move on to the child abuse scandal in Beijing. Amid mounting public outcry across the country, police in Beijing have taken into custody one teacher who is accused of abusing children at a kindergarten. The school's principal has been fired. Local police also have detained a woman suspected of spreading rumors that children were molested by officers of a unit of the People's Liberation Army. We have this report.
"Children are the flowers and the future of our country. We cannot tolerate any harm done to them," said Feng Junfeng, the Commissar of the Tiger Regiment during an interview with PLA Daily. Feng says the kindergarten's principal is related to a retired member of the regiment, but so far, nothing's been found to link any active officers to how the school had been run. The officer emphasized that none of the members of his unit have anything to do with alleged cases of child molestation. Children at the kindergarten have reportedly been fed unidentified tablets. They're also disciplined by being told to stand naked in class. In some cases, children have come home from school with needle marks.
HUSBAND OF FORMER RYB EMPLOYEE "So if there are indeed real criminals here, it's something they've been up to for a long time. They've gotten good at it. This isn't just some random incident that happened to these children. That's impossible."
WANG SIQI LOCAL RESIDENT "If it's just one teacher that's responsible then I don't think it would have had this big of an impact. Now they're saying even the principal is involved in the case. I think this is unforgivable and it won't be easy to calm the public down."
The school is gaining nationwide attention. On China's popular social media network, WeiBo, one user from Jiangxi Province wrote: "We have to get justice. I will continue to follow this incident until a satisfactory answer is given." Another user from Tianjin posted: "I could not help myself and cried after reading the accusations of what those children went through. Those are just little children." The Beijing Municipal Commission of Education condemned the suspects in question and said it will cooperate with authorities investigating the matter. Xu Xinchen, CGTN.