The Place Where the Runaway Mother and Child Were Found Was Hell... Appeal of 40-Year-Old Who Repeatedly Assaulted Colleagues Dismissed

The mother and son who ran away from home found themselves in what can only be described as hell.

The appellate court upheld the original sentence of imprisonment for the ‘father and son’ who repeatedly abused the mother and son family living together in one house. A man in his 40s, who allowed a female colleague in her 40s and her son to live in his home and repeatedly assaulted them, was sentenced to prison in the first trial and appealed, but the result remained the same.

On the 29th, the Criminal Division 2-3 of the Busan High Court (Chief Judge Kim Daehyun) announced that it dismissed the appeal of Mr. A, who was sentenced to four years in prison in the first trial on charges including grievous bodily harm, extortion, and special assault.

The appeal filed by Mr. B, A’s son, who was jointly prosecuted on charges including grievous bodily harm and joint assault and was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year probation in the first trial, was also dismissed.

According to the court, Mr. A and Ms. C (female, 40s), who were colleagues, had sons attending the same middle and high school and were close. In August 2016, after Ms. C had a fight with her husband, she ran away from home with her son D (then a teenager), and Mr. A, with his wife’s consent, allowed the mother and son to live in his house.

Ms. C helped with housework, and Mr. A initially treated them like family, but after one to two months, Mr. A’s violence began. Mr. A disciplined Ms. C’s son by stripping him and shooting him multiple times with a BB gun on major parts of his body.

When their sons, B and D, were caught stealing motorcycles and sent to a juvenile detention center, the violence worsened. Mr. A repeatedly assaulted Ms. C, saying she lived frustratingly without any intention to work. In January 2017, Mr. A forced Ms. C to physically punish her son D for running away from home.

Mr. B, the son, also joined in the father’s violence. Claiming she tried to escape, B assaulted Ms. C and forced D to assume a disciplinary posture, placing thumbtacks under his knees and stomach.

Ms. C suffered grievous bodily harm with an eight-week recovery period after being assaulted by B for secretly eating leftover ramen, resulting in fractured ribs.

Additionally, B subjected the mother and son to ‘water torture’ by repeatedly dunking their heads into a basin filled with detergent and water in the bathroom, accusing them of secretly eating the household food.

Frightened by the ongoing violence, Ms. C, under Mr. A’s coercion, repeatedly received about 2.6 million won in living expenses from her in-laws and handed it over to Mr. A.

In court, the father and son denied the charges, claiming, “We had no motive to assault the victims, and the victims were free to go out during cohabitation,” and that “the victims’ testimonies are too absurd,” but the court did not accept this.

The appellate court stated, “The victim woman and her son had been apart for a considerable period, so there was no time to conspire false testimonies, and their statements about specific facts are consistent,” and “there is no evidence that the victims fabricated false statements risking charges of false accusation or perjury.”

It is reported that the defendants have appealed to the Supreme Court, dissatisfied with the appellate court’s ruling.

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