Mother Sentenced to Prison for Abandoning Two Children After Husband Sent to Detention Center

Left 3- and 2-Year-Old Sons at Daycare and Disappeared
Cheongju District Court Sentences Mother to One Year in Prison

A mother who abandoned her two sons, both under the age of three, at a daycare center and fled after her husband was sent to a detention center has been sentenced to prison.

According to Yonhap News on the 16th, Judge Shin Yoonju, the presiding judge of Criminal Division 2 at the Cheongju District Court, sentenced a woman in her 30s, identified as Ms. A, to one year in prison for violating the Child Welfare Act (child abandonment and neglect). The court also ordered Ms. A to complete 40 hours of a child abuse treatment program and imposed a three-year employment restriction at child-related institutions.

Cheongju District Court Exterior

Ms. A was brought to trial on charges of abandoning her sons, B (age 3) and C (age 2), at a daycare center in Cheongju on July 31 of last year and then disappearing and not returning home for about three months until October 20 of the same year.

Ms. A, who has a level 2 intellectual disability, reportedly abandoned her two sons at the daycare center after her husband was admitted to a workhouse at a detention center the day before the crime. She decided to divorce her husband and no longer raise her children.

Acquaintance Who Provided Hideout Fined 3 Million Won

Afterward, Ms. A stayed at various motels in Daejeon and Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, with the help of her acquaintance, a man in his 30s identified as Mr. D, until she was apprehended by the police.

It was found that Mr. D provided Ms. A with shelter and food even though he knew she had abandoned her children and was on the run. He also lied to the police, claiming he did not know Ms. A's whereabouts after being contacted by them, thereby helping her evade capture. Mr. D was indicted for harboring a criminal and was fined 3 million won.

The court stated, "The defendant's guilt is very heavy, as she neglected and abandoned children who were in desperate need of parental protection, thereby putting their lives and physical well-being at risk." Regarding the sentencing, the court explained, "However, we took into account that the defendant committed the crime because, as a person with an intellectual disability, she found it difficult to care for the children alone, and that she has no prior criminal record."