Speech therapist at language center who slapped autistic child 25 times... Police request arrest warrant

14 Children Under 10 with Disabilities Assaulted Multiple Times

An incident occurred at a speech therapy center in Siheung-si, Gyeonggi Province, where a rehabilitation therapist in their 30s habitually assaulted more than 10 disabled children they were teaching. Internal closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage captured the assault scenes in full, and it is reported that one child was slapped 25 times in a row.

Mr. A slapping a student's cheek during class [Photo by the victim]

The Women and Juvenile Division of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency applied for a pre-arrest warrant on the 16th against a man in his 30s, identified as A, on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes. A is suspected of repeatedly assaulting 14 students at the speech therapy center where he worked from June to October last year. The victims were children under 10 years old with autism spectrum disorder.

In October last year, the police received a complaint from the parent of one of the victimized children, reporting that their child had been assaulted. After analyzing the CCTV footage inside the center, the police confirmed that A had assaulted many of the approximately 20 children he was responsible for.

The CCTV footage showed A assaulting students during one-on-one lessons in individual classrooms with no visibility from outside. The footage captured scenes where A slapped a victim so hard that their head turned, punched the area near the solar plexus, kicked the head, and strangled the neck causing injuries. It was also found that A neglected students during class and played smartphone games with his feet on the desk, failing to conduct proper lessons.

One parent of a victim said, "Watching the footage, some children were slapped 25 times continuously over 40 minutes, and even a 6-year-old girl suffered abuse. I deeply regret not recognizing sooner when a child who cannot speak resisted by hugging my arm, saying they didn’t want to attend class," expressing their anguish.

The victimized children were under 10 years old with autism spectrum disorder, and due to their limited ability to express themselves, they were exposed to A’s abuse for a long time without properly reporting the incidents.

After the incident came to light, the center dismissed A. It is reported that A told parents, "I recently fell victim to a jeonse fraud and was in a bad mood, which led to the physical abuse."

The police judged that A’s charges were serious due to the multiple assaults on disabled children and applied for a pre-arrest warrant on the 13th. Additionally, under the joint penalty provisions holding management accountable for negligence, the director of the speech therapy center is also under investigation for violating the Child Abuse Punishment Act.

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