Stepfather Sentenced to Prison in Appeal for Abusing 3-Year-Old Stepdaughter by Putting Her in Washing Machine and Forcing Her to Drink Soju

Abuse Lasted for 1 Year and 5 Months Starting from December 2013

A stepfather who repeatedly abused his three-year-old stepdaughter, including putting her in a washing machine and running it, has been sentenced to prison in the appellate court as well.

According to Yonhap News Agency on May 6, the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 3 (Presiding Judge Kim Ilsu) overturned the original ruling, which had sentenced Mr. A (49), who was indicted on habitual child abuse charges, to one year and eight months in prison with a three-year suspended sentence. Instead, the appellate court sentenced him to one year and eight months in prison. The court also ordered Mr. A to complete 40 hours of a child abuse treatment program and imposed a five-year restriction on employment at child-related institutions.

Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of physically abusing Ms. B, the daughter of his common-law partner, on 10 separate occasions over approximately one year and five months starting from December 2013.

At the time, Mr. A repeatedly abused Ms. B, who was three years old, by putting her in a top-loading washing machine and operating the device, taping her body to the wall with adhesive tape to prevent her from moving, and forcing her to drink about two shots of soju before making her hold a push-up position. It was found that Mr. A committed these acts because Ms. B cried or did not obey him.

The appellate court ruled that the original sentence was inappropriate, stating that Mr. A had not made efforts to remedy the harm to the victim.

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