The stepmother who was handed over for trial on charges of physically and mentally abusing her 11-year-old stepson to death in Incheon has had her case returned to the Seoul High Court after intentional murder was recognized by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court 3rd Division, presided over by Justice Noh Jung-hee, today (22nd) announced that it overturned the original ruling of sentencing the stepmother, referred to as A, to 17 years in prison for violations of the Child Welfare Act and the Child Welfare Law, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.
The stepfather, referred to as B, had his appeal rejected and the original sentence of 3 years in prison was upheld.
A is accused of physically abusing and neglecting her stepson, C, from March 2022 to February 2023 in an apartment in Nondong-gu, Incheon, ultimately leading to his death on February 7, 2023. B is accused of repeatedly abusing and neglecting C during the same period.
It was revealed that B started living with A in May 2018 and they began raising C, the child from A’s previous relationship with her ex-husband.
After suffering a miscarriage in April 2022, A blamed C, and B also carried out abuse attributing the domestic discord to C.
The couple subjected C to harsh punishment, including making him recite Bible verses and physically assaulting him if he failed to do so, tying him to a chair for up to 16 hours while monitoring him with a home camera.
Three days before his death, A repeatedly beat C with a shelf support bar and a plastic hanger, tying him up for about 18 hours.
Both the first and second trials sentenced A to 17 years in prison and B to 3 years in prison. A was acquitted of the charge of intentional murder in accordance with the Child Welfare Act, but the Supreme Court deemed that there was a strong possibility of unintentional but deliberate intent in the case of child abuse resulting in death and ordered a retrial.
The Supreme Court pointed out that after C stopped attending school in November 2022, A’s abusive behavior towards him not only continued with increased frequency and severity but also intensified without reservation and expressed hostility towards C to B.
Due to the year-long abuse, C’s weight decreased by 8 kg, and at the time of death, he was only 148 cm tall and weighed 29.5 kg. The Supreme Court stated that he had become extremely emaciated, falling below the 3-5th percentile on the pediatric growth chart and the 0.2th percentile in body mass index, and was in urgent need of prompt treatment and intervention due to his deteriorated emotional state.
The Supreme Court also mentioned that under such circumstances, C would not have been able to withstand the abuse and violence from the significantly larger and stronger A, who was an adult woman.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court emphasized that on the evening of February 6, 2023, when C collapsed while taking out the trash with A around 6:10 p.m. and on the following night when C was in pain and unable to sleep properly, A neglected to provide aid and failed to perform effective rescue measures such as administering CPR or calling emergency services, instead urging B to return home via multiple phone calls. A also attempted to discard the home camera footage by throwing it in the trash and other attempts to delete evidence of their abusive acts.
(Photo= Yonhap News)