Supreme Court Confirms Not Guilty Verdict for Daycare Teacher Accused of Abusing 20-Month-Old Child

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] A daycare teacher accused of abusing a 20-month-old child was acquitted in all three trials from the first to the third instance.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cheon Dae-yeop) announced on the 24th that it upheld the acquittal of Mr. A, who was charged with violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (aggravated punishment for child abuse by workers at child welfare facilities).

Childcare teacher Mr. A was accused of grabbing and dragging the ankle of B, born in July 2017, who was lying down without eating during lunchtime at the daycare in March 2019, causing B's head to hit the ground, pushing the crying B away, and leaving him unattended for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Three days after the incident, additional charges were applied for forcefully pulling B's hand and hitting his buttocks with a hand, allegedly because B was disturbing other children’s play.

However, employees from the Child Protection Agency who came to the daycare at the police's request investigated B and B's mother and reviewed the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, concluding that Mr. A's actions did not constitute child abuse. After the trial began, the Child Rights Protection Agency, which re-examined the CCTV footage at the prosecution's request, also determined that it was not child abuse.

The first and second trials acquitted Mr. A based on these findings. The victim's side submitted a medical opinion stating that the child was diagnosed with early childhood emotional disorder due to abnormal behavior after experiencing unpleasant incidents at the daycare, but it was not accepted because the diagnosis was made about two years after the incident.

The Supreme Court, after reviewing the case again upon the prosecution's appeal, found no legal errors in the second trial's judgment and confirmed Mr. A's acquittal.

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