"Throw or Hang" 40s Accused of Abusing Girlfriend's 5-Year-Old Daughter, Reasons for Not Guilty Verdict

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A man in his 40s who was accused of threatening his partner with a weapon during an argument over her contacting another man and abusing her daughter was acquitted.

On the 6th, Judge Jung Soo-young of the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 3 announced that A (43), who was charged with special intimidation and child abuse under the Child Welfare Act, was found not guilty.

A was accused of arguing with B at B's home in Chuncheon between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on September 24, 2019, over B exchanging messages with another man. Angered, A tried to leave the house but was stopped by B, and he allegedly threatened her with a weapon, saying, "If I kill your daughter, will you let me leave?"

Additionally, around 4 a.m. the same day, B's daughter C (5) repeatedly woke up crying. A is accused of opening the bedroom window and screen door, attempting to grab the child's leg while saying, "Should I throw you or hang you?" and throwing one slipper from the shoe rack at C, constituting child abuse.

However, Judge Jung, who presided over the case, concluded that the evidence submitted by the prosecution was unreliable or insufficient to prove the charges.

He also noted that B was in an unstable marital and romantic relationship, having been dating A while preparing for a divorce and maintaining contact with her separated husband for child-rearing purposes, which could have led her to exaggerate or downplay her statements to favor herself.

The absence of any mention of weapon threats or C's harm in the 112 emergency call report at the time of the incident was also cited as a basis for the not guilty verdict. Furthermore, B's expression of affection toward A, claiming the child she was pregnant with in December of the same year was A's, despite it being her husband's child, weakened the credibility of her claims.

Considering these factors, Judge Jung acquitted A of the charges of special intimidation and child abuse. However, A was found guilty of strangling B's neck with both hands and slapping her left cheek to prevent her from leaving the house on September 24, 2019, and was fined 1 million won.