Caregiver Hits Disabled Child with Wooden Stick...Probation Given Due to Victim's Leniency

Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] A woman in her 40s who beat a child with autism to the point of bruising has been sentenced to probation.

Judge Yang Woo-seok of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 9 announced on the 17th that A (48, female), who was indicted on charges of child abuse under the Child Welfare Act, was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 1-year probation.

She was also ordered to attend 40 hours of lectures on preventing recidivism in child abuse.

The court stated the reason for sentencing, "Although the degree of abuse was not light, we considered that the victim child's family petitioned for leniency toward the defendant."

A was indicted for hitting B (15) about 10 times with a wooden stick at B's home in Dong-gu, Incheon, around 6 p.m. on September 3 last year.

It was investigated that she hit B's buttocks, arms, and abdomen with a 90 cm long wooden stick, claiming that B did not listen and lied.

A is known to have worked as a caregiver at B's home, who has level 2 autism, since March 2018.