"Hot cup placed in child's mouth..." Director of national and public daycare center in Busan under investigation for child abuse allegations

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] It was revealed belatedly that Director A of a public daycare center in Haeundae-gu, Busan, has been under police investigation since May on charges of child abuse.

Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 27th that they are investigating Director A of a public daycare center in Haeundae-gu on charges of child abuse under the Child Welfare Act.

The police began the investigation after receiving a complaint from a parent at the end of May, alleging that the director had abused children.

According to the police, a daycare teacher informed the parent that "there is suspicion of child abuse by the director," and the parent immediately reviewed CCTV footage and filed a complaint against the director with the police.

After the initial report of abuse in May and subsequent additional investigations, it was found that there are three more victims.

Parents claimed that the director physically and emotionally abused the children, such as pressing a steaming hot cup against a child's lips and hitting their bodies multiple times.

Parents demanded a thorough investigation, stating that not only were these acts captured on video, but there were also many scenes where the director took children to CCTV blind spots, and there are indications that footage was deliberately deleted.

Parents also reported that the victimized children commonly testified that Director A hit their heads in the director’s office, where no CCTV was installed.

The Haeundae-gu Child Protection Team conducted its own investigation separately from the police and concluded on August 26, three months after the report, that the director did indeed abuse the children.

Despite being accused, Director A denied the allegations and continued operations, but after the number of victimized children increased to four and parents collectively withdrew their children, the daycare center was finally closed.

A parent of one of the victims said, "Even though there was decisive evidence of abuse after the initial report, the district office failed to recognize the seriousness of the situation, such as not separating the director from the children. Ultimately, parents decided to withdraw their children en masse, and only then did the daycare center close."

Haeundae-gu announced that it plans to reopen the daycare center after changing the entrusted operator.

The police plan to decide whether to send Director A to the prosecution after completing the investigation.

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