Stepfather abusing 9-year-old daughter taken into police custody... 'Silent and unresponsive'

The stepfather involved in child abuse in Changnyeong is being moved to the annex interrogation room of the Changnyeong Police Station in Gyeongnam on the morning of the 13th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The stepfather (35), who sparked public outrage for brutally abusing a 9-year-old girl, was taken into police custody on the 13th.

The Changnyeong Police Station in Gyeongnam announced that they issued an arrest warrant for the stepfather and took him to the police station annex at around 10:55 a.m. that day.

The stepfather was wearing a black hat, a mask, a short-sleeved T-shirt, and black training pants.

Throughout the arrest, he kept his hat pulled down low and his head bowed deeply, making it difficult to see his face.

When standing at the photo line, the stepfather firmly kept his mouth shut in response to reporters' questions asking, "Do you admit to the charges?"

After getting out of the vehicle, he headed straight to the second floor of the police station's Life Safety Traffic Division.

The police plan to conduct intensive investigations into the stepfather regarding the motive and circumstances of the crime.

Earlier, additional evidence equivalent to two boxes was secured from the stepfather's residence and other locations.

Initially, the police weighed options between summoning for investigation and issuing an arrest warrant for the stepfather's custody.

An arrest warrant is issued if there is suspicion that the suspect committed a crime and if the suspect does not respond or is likely not to respond to a summons. It temporarily deprives physical freedom but requires a detention warrant request within 48 hours, or the suspect must be released.

The police judged that the stepfather was likely to ignore the summons and decided to issue an arrest warrant.

The stepfather was scheduled to be summoned on the 11th but delayed the police investigation after self-harming in protest against the court's temporary protection order for other children, resulting in emergency hospitalization.

Investigation of the biological mother (27), who is also accused of abusing A (9), was postponed due to health issues.

The police plan to apply for detention warrants for the couple once their charges are confirmed.

A police official said, "The decision on whether to detain the couple will be made this weekend or early next week. We will strive to thoroughly prove their charges based on the testimony of the victim, A."

A escaped from home on the 29th of last month and was found by a resident running along a road in Changnyeong in her pajamas.

Investigations revealed that the stepfather and biological mother subjected A to torture-like abuse, such as chaining her neck with a metal chain like an animal and burning her insteps and soles with heated metal chopsticks.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.