20-Year-Old Sentenced to 3 Years for Assaulting 2-Month-Old Son, Causing Critical Condition

Mr. A Appeals for Leniency, Saying "Please Give Me Just One Chance"

On the 5th, the prosecution requested a 3-year prison sentence for a man in his 20s who assaulted his 2-month-old son, causing a severe brain hemorrhage, after his wife ran away following a marital dispute.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] The prosecution has sought a heavy sentence for a man in his 20s who severely injured his two-month-old son by hitting him after the baby bumped into the bathtub and had seizures.

On the 5th, at the sentencing hearing held at the 15th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Gyu-hoon), the prosecution requested a three-year prison sentence for A (20), who was indicted on charges including child abuse causing serious injury.

In his final statement, A said, "When the child was hurt, I only prayed that he would be okay, but it was a reckless act. It is very difficult now, but please give me one chance so that I can raise the child without breaking down."

A’s lawyer also argued in the final defense, "The defendant got married and had a child at a young age without financial means. While his wife, who had argued with him over money, went to her parents' home, the defendant tried to raise the baby alone and bought a bathtub, but the child was injured after hitting the bathtub during a bath."

He continued, "Since the child did not cry, the defendant searched online and found posts saying 'the child must cry somehow for the condition to improve,' and tried to make him cry by hitting him several times. When that did not work, he shook the child violently. He should have taken the child to the hospital quickly, but he thought lightly of the situation."

He added, "Although the defendant caused serious injury to the child and deserves severe punishment, he has the intention to care for the child for life even if the child is left with a disability."

A was arrested and indicted on charges of assaulting his two-month-old son B at their home in Jung-gu, Incheon, between December 3 and 13 last year, causing the child to fall into a critical condition.

It was investigated that after a fight with his wife at the end of November of the same year, his wife, who was assaulted by him, left home, and A took care of B alone.

While bathing B, who had hit his head on the bathtub and continued to have seizures, A hit his head and buttocks several times. B, who was assaulted, was treated at a hospital for traumatic subdural hemorrhage (brain hemorrhage).

When the judge asked about B’s current condition during the hearing, the prosecution said, "We contacted the victim’s lawyer, who said, 'If he were an adult, he might have died, but since the child’s brain is still developing, his condition has somewhat improved.'"