A woman in her 40s, accused of insulting the mother of an elementary school student identified as a perpetrator of school violence by saying, "stones are X," was sentenced to a fine in the first trial. This woman was a parent review committee member of the dedicated organization for school violence at the elementary school the student was referred to.
According to the legal community on the 26th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 15 (Director General Park Chan-beom) sentenced 40-year-old woman A to a fine of 500,000 won on the 7th for the charge of insult.
Ms. A is accused of insulting Ms. B, the mother of a first-grade student referred as a perpetrator to the dedicated organization for school violence at an elementary school in Seoul last year, with comments such as, "not a mother of a kid, but XXX, stones are X," and "an X who can't even raise her own child."
It was investigated that Ms. A made these insults during a currency call with another parent. After Ms. B learned of this fact and reported Ms. A to the police, a recording of the phone conversation containing Ms. A's insults was submitted as evidence.
Ms. A argued before the court that the recording was made through illegal means without her consent, and therefore lacked evidentiary value.
However, the court stated, "The recorded currency call was made using the automatic recording function embedded in the smartphone of the parent who directly communicated with Ms. A," adding, "Since it was recorded by a party who directly communicated rather than a third party, it cannot be considered illegal recording, thus it is not illegally obtained evidence." It further noted, "The content of the insulting remarks made by Ms. A can be confirmed through the recording."
In the end, since Ms. A did not appeal, the first trial's fine was confirmed.