Deprived of sleep for 5 days and subjected to brutal acts such as forced Bible transcription
Unable to control bodily functions or eat, yet kept restrained
Eventually died but…”Not guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter”, “[E-Daily Reporter Kang So-young] The choir director and two church members in Incheon were found guilty of abusing a teenage high school student, leading to her death. Initially, they were charged with child abuse homicide, but were found not guilty of murder.”,
Incheon District Court’s Criminal Division 13 (Chief Judge Jang Woo-young) on the 9th changed the charge against choir director A (52), initially indicted for child abuse and murder under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, to child abuse manslaughter, sentencing him to 4 years and 6 months in prison.
The charges for choir members B (41) and C (54), who were tried alongside, were also changed to the same, with B receiving a 4-year sentence and C receiving a 4-year and 6-month sentence. The mother, D (52), accused of abandoning and neglecting her daughter (17), who needed psychiatric care, by sending her to the choir accommodation instead of a hospital, was sentenced to 1 year in prison with 2 years of probation.
The court noted, “The prosecution argued that the defendants searched for ways to further bind or abuse the victim and that they abused the victim, who was unable to control bodily functions or eat, leading to her death,” but concluded, “There is insufficient evidence to recognize that the victim, who was able to converse at the time, was in a life-threatening condition.”
However, it ruled, “The causal relationship between the defendants’ abusive acts and the victim’s death can be acknowledged,” maintaining the charge of child abuse manslaughter.
Starting from February until May 15, A and the others allegedly imprisoned and abused E at the choir accommodation in Namdong-gu, Incheon, leading to her death.
They allegedly prevented E from sleeping for 5 days, forced her to transcribe the Bible, or made her climb stairs from the basement to the seventh floor repeatedly for an hour, among other abuses.
Due to this abuse, E became unable to control her bodily functions or eat, but A and the others continued to restrain her and repeat brutal acts. Ultimately, E lost consciousness while having dinner at the church on May 15 and was transferred to the hospital, where she died.