TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A former nanny in central Taiwan was sentenced to nine years and three months in jail on Thursday (April 18) for the abuse of a 1-year-old child in her care that resulted in the toddler’s death.

The woman, surnamed Tsai (蔡), was responsible for the care of the girl surnamed Yao (姚) in Taichung’s Qingshui District in November 2022. This week, she was found guilty of inflicting injuring on the child that resulted in an intracranial hemorrhage and death, reported UDN. 

Tsai refused to confess to the charge of intentionally injuring the child. Prosecutors successfully argued that Tsai was under mental pressure due to financial difficulties and took out her stress on the toddler by hitting and shaking her repeatedly.  

Yao’s father and mother both testified during the trial, and called Tsai a murderer for her actions. Both pleaded for the harshest sentence possible, noting that their daughter endured multiple brain surgeries after the attack, before she passed away in the hospital. 

Prosecutors initially argued for a sentence of 13 to 15.5 years in jail, but the judge decided on a sentence of nine years and three months, with the possibility of appeal. Tsai is also a mother with three of her own children, per UDN.

In related news, cases of child abuse have become a sensitive topic in Taiwan recentky after a pair of sisters in Taipei were charged in March with torturing a 1-year-old boy to death in late 2023. The two sisters, surnamed Liu (劉), were formally indicted on charges of abuse resulting in death at the Taipei District Court on Thursday (April 18).