Yan Yanhong, a kindergarten teacher in Wenling, Zhejiang Province accused of child abuse, has been released by the local police after an investigation, as she was not found to have committed criminal acts under existing law.

Photos and videos recording Yan tormenting children surfaced on the Internet in late October and soon stirred up public indignation. Yan was taken into police custody on charges of creating a disturbance. It seems strange that this kind of horrific incident began with an incendiary public reaction but ends in legal innocence.

Maybe this result makes Yan feel lucky. However, it is a tragedy for the whole society.

According to the existing Chinese law, Yan could be charged with crimes such as creating a disturbance, intentional injury and mistreating children. However, they are not suitable for her, if we take a closer look.

Many are confused by how Yan's merciless abuses of children weren't against the law. Yan abused many children with different horrible measures. She threw them into dustbins, sealed their mouths with adhesive tape, lifted them off the ground by the ears and forced them to kiss each other and engage in dangerous behavior. All of these abuses make one boil with anger.

Yan also updated those pictures and video to public spaces online, which not only challenged public morals but also brought further psychological harm to the children.

After this inconceivable behavior, Yan was just punished with administrative means. Against the background of several recent instances of violence in kindergartens that caused widespread worry, the lack of punishment does more than breach the spirit of the law, ignore the children's suffering, and show contempt for public sentiment. It also disastrously hints to the public that child abuse is not a crime.

Yan's behavior is unforgivable when considering universal human civilization principles and protection of the rights of children. Such kind of instances should be written in law, but there has been a lack of action. Just patching the law by adding more explicit child abuse crimes does not mean everything is just fine. There are still serious gaps in our legal system.

The ancient philosopher Mencius once noted that we should extend respect for the children in our own family to those in other families. The virtues espoused by our ancestors are disappearing. Children protection needs far more development, and our laws about children must be more than just words on paper.

Beijing Youth Daily