The Control Yuan on Wednesday censured a junior high school in Taoyuan for reportedly covering up the sexual abuse of students by a baseball coach, who allegedly raped and harassed 22 children.

The Control Yuan said in a statement that the school’s principal, former principal and dean of students hired the coach, whom it called unqualified, and worked to impede an investigation into the school’s misconduct.

Although the Control Yuan withheld the name of the school, it identified the coach by the surname Huang (黃).

The coach is being investigated by law enforcement over charges of sexual assault and using corporal punishment against students, acts that allegedly started in 2016, the Control Yuan said.

Control Yuan members Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), Chang Chu-fang (張菊芳) and Yeh ta-hua (葉大華) launched an investigation into the school after being assigned to the case in September 2019, it said.

The probe revealed that the two principals had allowed Huang to house students in the school’s kendo dojo, a structure that was not approved for use as a dormitory, and that they secretly called a staff meeting to collude in their testimonies should they be questioned, it said.

The school officials contravened the Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法) and the Regulations on the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, or Sexual Bullying on Campus (校園性侵害性騷擾或性霸凌防治準則), it said.

The Control Yuan approved the members’ recommendation that corrective measures and criminal complaints be brought against school officials, in addition to requesting that the Taoyuan City Government take additional disciplinary action, it said.

Only two out of 22 alleged victims pressed charges against Huang, the Control Yuan said, adding that authorities must improve the mechanisms for children to report sexual abuse.