Supreme Court Confirms Suspended Sentence for Biological Mother of 'Gumi 3-Year-Old Girl'... Acquitted of Child Swap Charges

Seok Mo-ssi (50), the biological mother of a '3-year-old girl' who died in a villa in Gumi-si, Gyeongbuk, was finally acquitted of the charge of child swapping and received a suspended sentence.

On the 18th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun) ruled in Seok's appeal trial that she was not guilty of the charge of abducting a minor, but was guilty only of attempted concealment of a corpse, confirming the original sentence of two years in prison with a three-year suspension.

The court stated, "The lower court found no evidence to prove the crime of abducting a minor as charged against the defendant for the reasons stated in the original judgment, overturned the first trial's guilty verdict, and acquitted her." It added, "Upon reviewing the reasons for the lower court's judgment in light of relevant laws and records, there is no error in the lower court's judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the rules of evidence regarding indirect facts and scientific proof methods," explaining the reason for dismissing the appeal.

The biological mother, Ms. Seok (50), of the 3-year-old girl who died in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, leaving the Daegu District Court Gimcheon Branch.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Seok was accused of swapping her own child (the deceased 3-year-old girl) with her biological daughter Kim Mo-ssi (24, currently incarcerated)'s newborn baby at an obstetrics clinic in Gumi between the afternoon of March 31, 2018, and the following morning, and then taking her daughter's baby somewhere (charge of abducting a minor).

Additionally, Seok was charged with attempted concealment of a corpse for placing the deceased 3-year-old girl's body in a box and attempting to bury it in the villa where her daughter lived on February 9, 2021, one day before reporting the child's death to the police.

Earlier, the first and second trial courts found all charges against Seok to be true and sentenced her to eight years in prison.

However, the Supreme Court overturned the original ruling in June last year, stating that further examination was needed regarding the child swapping crime, and sent the case back to the Daegu District Court.

Although DNA testing revealed that Seok, previously believed to be the maternal grandmother, was actually the biological mother of the deceased girl, there was no direct evidence that Seok swapped the babies at the obstetrics clinic, necessitating further trial.

In February of this year, the Daegu District Court acquitted Seok of the charge of abducting a minor in the retrial, stating that the charge was not proven. However, the court recognized her guilt for attempted concealment of a corpse and sentenced her to two years in prison with a three-year suspension.

The Supreme Court confirmed this judgment, deeming the lower court's decision appropriate.

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