The appeals court overturned the original ruling that sentenced a mother to a suspended prison term who was accused of abusing her child by hitting a kindergarten teacher with a soiled diaper.
According to the legal community on the 17th, the 3rd Branch of the Daejeon District Court (Director General Park Eun-jin) sentenced A (in their 40s) to 6 months in prison during the appeals trial of the injury case. The court accepted the prosecution's claim that the 1st trial's sentence of 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence was too light and unjust.
The appeals court determined that the original sentence was excessively lenient when considering the pain suffered by the victim. The court stated, "In light of conventional social norms, the act of deliberately smearing excrement on another person's face, whether planned or impulsive, carries an intent to insult the other party," and noted, "Despite the considerable time that has passed since the crime, the victim continues to express mental anguish to the extent that they cannot continue their work as a childcare teacher."
The court also stated, "The defendant did not merely throw the diaper, but rubbed it on the victim's face, causing the victim's glasses to break and significant excrement to smear the victim's face, hair, clothing, and glasses lenses, which indicates a severe nature of the crime." It added, "Even as the investigation into this case continues, the defendant has filed multiple abuse claims against the victim, all of which were dismissed without prosecution."
The court also found it difficult to view the points that A had posted 2 million won in a bail and had paid 35 million won in accordance with the court's reconciliation recommendation in the civil damage claims as favorable factors for sentencing. The court remarked, "The victim has not accepted the bail money and continues to express a desire for severe punishment, making it difficult to view that the victim has recovered from the damage, and the defendant has not apologized or shown remorse to the victim."
A was reported to have sobbed immediately after the ruling, saying, "I have two young children, and there is no one to raise them. I have reflected a lot."
A was indicted for hitting kindergarten teacher B (53) in the face with the soiled diaper of their child while in a hospital bathroom in Sejong City on Sept. 10, 2023. A, who was at the hospital due to their second child's hospitalization, reportedly committed the act in a fit of rage while talking with B, who had come to the hospital with the principal of the kindergarten after suspecting abuse concerning their first child being injured at the kindergarten.
Earlier, after the 1st trial court sentenced A to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension, both A and the prosecution filed an appeal.