Tong Leju child abuse case | SWD issues warning to Society for the Protection of Children urging full cooperation with police investigation

The Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children’s child care home, Tong Leju, was exposed to child abuse in mid-December. The organization did not explain the incident for the first time until today (28th).

The director-general announced that after checking more closed-circuit television images after the incident, it was found that four more employees were involved in child abuse. They have notified the Social Welfare Department and will report to the police, a total of seven.

The Social Welfare Department responded tonight that it had sent a multi-professional team to the center to investigate and initially believed that the conditions of the 70 children were stable.

In addition, the SWD has issued a written warning to the operating agency about the incident and urged the agency to fully cooperate with the police investigation, submit a review report and implement the necessary improvement measures as soon as possible.

▼12.26 The staff of the Child Abuse Protection Association for Children ▼

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The SWD met with the chairman, some members and management of the executive committee of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children today to express its high degree of concern about the incident and listen to the organization's report on the incident.

The Department was informed that there were additional staff members or involved in child abuse and had been suspended. Therefore, the SWD has requested the agencies involved to take measures to strengthen the supervision of frontline staff to ensure that the children are properly taken care of and to report the follow-up situation as soon as possible.

The SWD stated that the organizations involved also reported on the immediate measures they had implemented at the meeting, and set up a task force to conduct a comprehensive investigation and submit a review report to propose improvement plans, including strengthening risk management, staff supervision and monitoring, etc.

The SWD has urged the institutions involved to fully cooperate with the police investigation to submit a review report as soon as possible and implement necessary improvement measures, including re-examining the management mechanism and continuous monitoring of staff ethics to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

SWD dispatched a multi-professional team to investigate and determine that 70 children are in stable condition

The SWD also pointed out that yesterday it sent a multi-professional team of more than 20 clinical psychologists, nurses, social workers, etc. to the child care center involved to conduct investigations, inspect the operation of the center, review its work records, and observe 70 in the center one by one. The behavior, health and emotional conditions of the children are initially considered to be stable.

The SWD continued that it will closely monitor the operation of the centre to ensure that the operation of the centre meets the requirements of service quality and child protection.

The SWD also contacted parents of children returning home for vacation yesterday to ensure that the children are in good condition.

Tong Leju, a young child residential institution of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, was exposed to child abuse in mid-December until the first account of the incident on December 28.

(Photo by Luo Junhao)

SWD: There have been regular surprise inspections of the centre

The SWD also stated that there have been regular surprise inspections of the centre, including day and night inspections, to ensure that the centre meets the registration requirements.

The SWD has issued a written warning to the operating agency regarding the incident and will continue to actively follow up to ensure that the children in the centre receive proper care.

▼A child abuse scandal occurred in the “Tongleju” Association for the Protection of Children▼

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