Photo: VCG

Dawa district people's court in Panjin of Northeast China's Liaoning Province on Thursday delivered a first-instance verdict in the case of defendant Zhang, who was charged with abusing children under her care, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported. 

Zhang was sentenced to two years in prison for the crime of abusing persons under care and was also banned from engaging in work involving close contact with minors, according to the CCTV report. 

The court found that Zhang was a pre-school teacher at Pengcheng kindergarten in Panshan county in Liaoning Province. Between March 3 and March 21, 2025, while working at the kindergarten, Zhang repeatedly carried out acts such as intimidation, pushing, slapping, dragging, and striking against eight children, including a child surnamed Meng, the CCTV reported. 

On March 21, 2025, Meng's mother, surnamed Li, discovered through kindergarten surveillance footage that Zhang had slapped her child in the face and pushed the child, causing her child's head to hit a wall. The following day, Li took her child to Panjin central hospital, where the child was diagnosed with a scalp contusion, according to the media report. 

The court held that Zhang, as a kindergarten teacher with a duty of care toward young children, violated professional ethics and her caregiving responsibilities by repeatedly committing the aforementioned abusive acts against multiple children. 

The circumstances were egregious, and her conduct constituted the crime of abusing a person under care, for which she should be punished in accordance with the law. 

Although Zhang truthfully confessed the main facts of her crimes, pleaded guilty in court, and obtained forgiveness from some of the victims' parents, the court decided not to grant a lenient sentence after taking into comprehensive consideration the long duration of the abuse, the number and vulnerability of the victims, the consequences of the abusive acts, and the degree of social harm, the CCTV report said. 

From the perspective of fully protecting the lawful rights and interests of minors, and based on the facts of Zhang's crimes as well as the need to prevent reoffending, the court ruled that an occupational ban should be imposed. The first-instance court therefore handed down the above verdict. The family of the child surnamed Meng expressed no objection to the judgment, according to the media report. 

After receiving complaints from Meng's family regarding issues at the kindergarten, the local disciplinary inspection and supervision authorities immediately launched an elevated-level investigation. The investigation found that Pengcheng kindergarten had multiple problems, including the employment of several teachers without the required qualifications, facilities that failed to meet regulatory standards, continued teaching after the expiration of its license, discrepancies between the registered and actual operating addresses, and failure to meet the criteria for designation as an inclusive kindergarten, the media report said. 

Local disciplinary inspection and supervision authorities have imposed Party disciplinary and administrative sanctions as well as organizational measures on 24 relevant responsible individuals in accordance with regulations and discipline. It is also understood from relevant sources that Pengcheng kindergarten has been permanently shut down, and other individuals responsible for the case have received corresponding punishments, the CCTV report said.