Teacher caught in child abuse scandal released

BEIJING - A kindergarten teacher detained by police for her role in a child abuse scandal has been released, the public security bureau of the east China city of Wenling announced late Friday on its official microblog.

After a thorough investigation, Yan Yanhong was not found to have committed acts that constitute a crime according to a basic principle in the Criminal Law, according to the statement posted on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like platform.

The police bureau said in the statement that it has withdrawn the criminal case against Yan.

Yan and another teacher were taken into police custody on October 25 on charges of creating a disturbance after pictures surfaced online showing Yan picking a child up and holding him by the ears and sealing another boy's mouth with tape. The other teacher took the photos, which aroused public anger.

Other photographs showed a child being placed upside-down in a garbage can, and Yan has reportedly said she did it "just for fun."

The teacher who took the photos was released on November 3 after seven days of administrative detention.

China's constitution and laws on compulsory education and the protection of minors contain relevant items regarding child abuse, but there are no specific items on child abuse in the Criminal Law.