A self-service store owner who posted a photo with part of an elementary school student's face obscured after the child took one ice cream without paying was convicted on appeal. The acquittal in the first trial was overturned.
The Incheon District Court Criminal Appeals Division 5-3 (Presiding Judge Lee Yeon-gyeong, Director General) said on the 1st it sentenced A, a 46-year-old self-service store owner indicted on charges of child abuse under the Child Welfare Act and defamation, to a fine of 2 million won.
A was indicted on charges of posting four captured images from closed-circuit (CC)TV footage, with B's face processed to be semi-transparent, at a self-service store in Incheon on Apr. 23, 2023, after elementary school student B, then 8, took one ice cream without paying.
Along with B's photo, A also wrote phrases such as "Let's become people of culture with a conscience."
When the post first went up, B reportedly heard from a customer at a store, "Wasn't that you?" and told the parents. B's parents spoke with A several times by phone, but when they could not reach a settlement, they paid for the ice cream on May 4 that year.
However, even after B, a minor under the age of criminal responsibility, received a non-referral decision from police, A reposted the same photos at the store from July to September that year.
The first trial court acquitted A, but the appellate court reached a different conclusion.
The appellate court determined that the store was next to B's school, and even with mosaic processing, acquaintances could have identified B. It also found that the posts significantly affected B's mental health development, noting a diagnosis of adjustment disorder and complaints of anxiety.
The court added, "Given the degree of psychological shock suffered by the child victim and the extent of defamation, the defendant's responsibility cannot be considered light," and "Nevertheless, the defendant continues to insist only on the legitimacy of the conduct and is not seriously reflecting on the harm the child suffered."
However, the court explained the sentencing reasons, saying, "Considering the difficulties the defendant would have faced in operating and managing a self-service store, there are some circumstances that can be taken into account regarding how the offense came about," and "The post used somewhat indirect expressions, and although insufficient, mosaic processing was applied."