A 20-Year-Old Mother Who Parked in Front of Her Ex-Husband's Company with Her 5-Year-Old Daughter in Midwinter... Prison Sentence Upheld on Appeal

Attempted Crime to Pressure Husband Refusing to Unlock Cell Phone
Child Protection Agency Worker Who Reported Abuse Assaulted... Also Charged with Obstruction of Duty

A woman in her 20s was sentenced to prison for abusing her 5-year-old daughter by making her stand for a long time in front of her husband's workplace in freezing winter temperatures below zero.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] A woman in her 20s who abused her daughter by making her stand outside for hours in the middle of winter was sentenced to prison again in the appellate court.

On the 14th, the Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Yoon Seongmuk) announced that it had sentenced A (29, female), who was charged with child abuse, obstruction of business, and obstruction of official duties, to 1 year and 6 months in prison, the same as the first trial.

The court stated, "Considering the circumstances and methods of each crime, the nature of the offenses is by no means light, and forgiveness was not granted by the victims except for the child protection agency staff," adding, "The circumstances emphasized by A seem to have been sufficiently considered in the first trial."

It further ruled, "No new evidence justifying a change in the sentence from the first trial was submitted during the appeal," and "The sentence set in the first trial is appropriate and cannot be considered beyond a reasonable range."

Previously, the first trial court sentenced A to 1 year and 6 months in prison, along with 40 hours of child abuse treatment program completion and a 3-year employment restriction at child-related institutions, stating, "Despite having a prior record of similar offenses, the defendant committed the crime again." However, A appealed the verdict.

A is accused of making her daughter, C (5), stand outdoors in front of B’s (28, her ex-husband) company in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, from February 1 to 6, in order to pressure B to unlock his cellphone.

Investigations revealed that C stood for periods ranging from about 1 hour to a maximum of approximately 13 hours. The average outdoor temperature at the time ranged from -1.4 to 7.3 degrees Celsius.

When a child protection agency worker who received the report of abuse tried to separate A and C, A reportedly assaulted the worker and obstructed their duties.

A fled Daejeon to avoid police investigation on child abuse charges but was arrested in Busan on May 12. During transport at the police station, she spat at an officer and, when asked to move to the middle of the transport vehicle for safety, she grabbed the officer’s collar while handcuffed, obstructing official duties.

Additionally, police investigations revealed that A had a prior conviction for child abuse on April 12, 2018, for which she was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a 2-year probation period.

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