One of China’s most notorious child abuse scandals ended with a police statement on Tuesday saying no evidence of sexual abuse was found at a Beijing kindergarten. The alleged child abuse claim had angered much of the country.

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The kindergarten’s mother company RYB Education Institution, a listed company in the United States, issued an apology Wednesday on its verified Sina Weibo account, saying the scandal has left them feeling sad and humiliated. The company expressed its deep regret about the situation and apologized to parents and children.

According to Beijing police, a 22-year-old teacher from an RYB Kindergarten in Guanzhuang was found to have used needles to make the children go to sleep. The teacher has been detained.

“We apologize! We have no right to beg for your forgiveness, but we can take action,” said the statement. The company has promised a zero-tolerance policy regarding any child abuse and has vowed to upgrade its 24/7 surveillance system at its kindergartens and engage parents in a more transparent way.

The kindergarten in Guanzhuang had set off wide public outcry when some parents claimed their children had needle puncture marks and were fed unknown pills. But the fiercest criticism came from the “group sexual abuse” claim that had allegedly happened at the kindergarten in Beijing.

Beijing police found no evidence to support the pills and sexual abuse allegations, saying in their Tuesday statement that those accusations were made up and that the rumor-mongers have been punished and agreed to apologize.