"Bad Destiny" Couple Who Sold Newborn Baby Appeals Claiming "No Abuse"

Prosecutors Say "Sentenced Punishment Too Light"
Couple Requests "Psychological Evaluation for Abuse Allegations"

A couple in their 40s was sentenced to prison for abusing newborns they bought from biological mothers as if shopping and abandoning them in baby boxes, and the couple claimed the sentence was unfair in the appeal trial.

On the 20th, Yonhap News reported, "The 4th Criminal Appeal Division of Daejeon District Court (Chief Judge Gu Chang-mo) held the first appeal trial yesterday for male defendant A and female defendant B, who are accused of violating the Child Welfare Act (child trafficking, child abuse), the Resident Registration Act, and fraud." According to the report, the prosecution argued that the sentence handed down in the first trial was too lenient and added that there were factual errors and legal misunderstandings in the parts where the defendants were acquitted. The prosecution viewed that they deceived biological mothers by reassuring them and pretending to register the babies on the family registry, then took the babies and subjected them to emotional and physical abuse.

Defendant A's attorney also claimed factual errors, legal misunderstandings, and unfair sentencing, while defendant B's attorney argued factual errors and unfair sentencing regarding the child abuse charges. Defendant A's attorney further requested the court to conduct psychological examinations to prove child abuse. They explained, "Psychological examination of the child is important in child abuse cases, and we want to determine whether what A did is socially unacceptable and whether that constitutes abuse."

Previously, from January 2020 to August of the following year, the couple bought five newborns from four biological mothers for amounts ranging from 1 million to 10 million won. Driven by their desire for new children, they approached unmarried mothers who were considering adoption or abortion through the internet, under the pretext of "raising the child and providing financial support," and took the babies. They also requested births under B's name or on specific dates.

They were indicted on charges of physically and emotionally abusing the babies they bought as if they were commodities. Phone conversations revealed that during marital disputes, they hit the children without particular reason or discussed abandoning the children due to parenting stress. They are also accused of abandoning two newborns, only a week old, in baby boxes because they were dissatisfied with the babies' gender and birth dates. However, the remarried couple was found to have neglected parental duties, such as not exercising visitation rights for children born from previous marriages.

The first trial court stated, "They did not treat the children as individuals but as means to fulfill their desires, which is highly condemnable," and sentenced A to two years in prison and B to four years, saying, "They committed the crimes with distorted thoughts to overcome difficulties in married life without remorse, and even abandoned babies in baby boxes, which worsens the nature of the crime." They were also ordered to complete 80 hours of child abuse treatment programs and were banned from employment in child-related institutions for five years.

The next trial is scheduled for 3:50 p.m. on the 8th of next month.

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