'No Punishment Desired' Lenient Sentencing... Stricter Measures in Child Abuse Cases

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Controversy is intensifying over the so-called 'non-prosecution request' by victims when punishing child abuse crimes. There is a growing voice that even if the victim expresses a desire not to prosecute, it should not be considered a mitigating factor in strengthening the punishment for child abuse crimes.

Recently, the Sentencing Research Committee under the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission conducted an in-depth discussion on the non-prosecution request. This meeting was arranged to improve the current situation where the number of child abuse cases is increasing while the rate of criminal punishment is decreasing.

In fact, the number of reported child abuse cases increased annually from 19,203 in 2015 to 29,671 in 2016, 34,166 in 2017, 36,416 in 2018, and 41,389 in 2019. The number of confirmed child abuse cases also rose from 11,715 in 2015 to 18,700 in 2016, 22,367 in 2017, 24,604 in 2018, and 30,045 in 2019.

However, cases that led to criminal punishment were only 174 in 2015, 500 in 2016, 569 in 2017, 266 in 2018, and 361 in 2019. The ratio of criminal punishment to the number of cases handled also showed a declining trend: 4.9% in 2015, 8.3% in 2016, 7.8% in 2017, 3.3% in 2018, and 3.3% in 2019.

Accordingly, the Sentencing Research Committee argued that the characteristics of child abuse crimes should be reflected in sentencing factors to impose stronger sanctions. Park Eunjeong, Director of the Child Abuse Response Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "The non-prosecution request, which is a mitigating factor in ordinary crimes, should not be applied to child abuse crimes." This is due to concerns that the perpetrators of child abuse are very likely to be the child's parents, and in such cases, relatives of the child may pressure the victim child to express a non-prosecution request.

Under the current sentencing guidelines, 'non-prosecution request' is defined as "when the defendant repents for their crime and the victim or bereaved family accepts this and does not want the defendant to be punished."

Judge Kim Sejong of the Seoul High Court also suggested strengthening the requirements for recognizing a non-prosecution request to the level of sexual crimes and prostitution crimes, saying, "It is necessary to block the risk that the victim child's parents or others may fabricate a non-prosecution request."

There was also an argument that it is reasonable to remove this from the special mitigating factors. Attorney Heo Yong from the law firm Inui stated, "Considering the severity of the harm and the risk of distortion of the victim child's intention, it is not enough to just strengthen the requirements for recognizing a non-prosecution request."

Additionally, Park Hyunju, Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, pointed out that crimes against preschool children under six years old should be treated as special aggravating factors rather than general aggravating factors. Except for child abuse causing serious injury or death, preschool children are not currently included as an aggravating factor in child crimes.

Meanwhile, the Sentencing Commission plans to reflect the contents of this symposium in the revision of sentencing guidelines for child abuse crimes to be conducted this year.