Watching the 'Terrifying Daycare' CCTV Footage... Pinning Down, Spraying Water, Pulling Hair

On the 20th, MBC's "True Story Exploration Team" aired CCTV footage of the abuse incident at a public daycare center in Incheon. Photo by MBC "True Story Exploration Team" broadcast screen capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Nah Han-ah] On the 20th, the CCTV footage of the abuse incident at a national public daycare center in Incheon was revealed on MBC's 'True Story Exploration Team,' sparking public outrage among viewers.

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage shown during the broadcast vividly captured daycare teachers abusing children by spraying water on a young child's face with a spray bottle, forcibly restraining a struggling child trying to escape, and pulling the hair of a fleeing child to knock them down.

One teacher knocked a young child down and then lay on top of them like a pillow with their large body, and also exhibited bizarre behavior by shining a strong light into the eyes of a child who was not sleeping.

The suspected abuse footage from November to December last year totaled about 20 hours, with approximately 200 cases of abuse recorded.

According to police investigations, all six teachers at this daycare center were identified as perpetrators.

They mainly abused very young children with limited speech and children with developmental disabilities.

The parents of the children said, "We entrusted our children believing it was a national public daycare center, unaware of the abuse," and added, "At some point, the children became afraid to fall asleep." They also said, "Children who woke up cried and struggled in pain, and some even had nosebleeds."

Child psychology expert Oh Eun-young pointed out, "Not only the abused children but also all the children nearby need treatment."

Netizens poured out criticism, saying things like, "Change daycare center CCTV to IP so we can watch in real time," "Please disclose the identities of kindergarten teachers," and "Because of such mentally ill people, good teachers get bad reputations."

However, the teachers claimed that they continued to treat the children with love even after the abuse incidents, and the daycare center director also insisted that they were completely unaware of the collective abuse by these teachers.

Among the six teachers who abused the children, two were detained, and the remaining teachers were all sent to the prosecution.