A Single Mother Turns to Sex Work to Afford Formula... One-Year-Old Left Alone Dies

Found Dead 2 Hours After Leaving Home
Court Says "Society Also Responsible" in Unusual Suspended Sentence

According to a report by Segye Ilbo on the 25th, an 8-month-old infant left alone at home while the mother briefly went out to earn money for formula milk has died.

A cushion placed on the infant's chest shifted and covered the face, causing the infant to be unable to breathe properly, which led to the accident. The court unusually sentenced a suspended prison term, stating that "society also bears responsibility."

A, an unmarried mother, gave birth to B in October 2021 and became estranged from her family. She experienced severe conflicts with her family, who urged her to have an abortion during her pregnancy.

Although she received about 1.37 million won monthly in basic livelihood benefits and single-parent child-rearing allowances, it was insufficient to cover the child-rearing and living expenses, including 270,000 won in monthly rent. She was unable to pay health insurance premiums and various utility bills.

To cope with the increasing monthly child-rearing costs, A turned to prostitution. Police investigations confirmed that she engaged in prostitution on May 21, 2022, the day the child died.

At around 1 p.m., the biological mother left the house and sent a text message to an acquaintance asking to "look after the child for a while," but the acquaintance was at a hospital appointment and discovered the deceased child at around 3:21 p.m. the same day.

The Daegu District Court Gimcheon Branch 1st Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Lee Yun-ho) sentenced A, who was indicted for violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (child abuse resulting in death), to three years in prison with a five-year suspension. She was also ordered to undergo three years of probation, attend 40 hours of child abuse recidivism prevention lectures, and 40 hours of prostitution prevention lectures.

The court stated, "The circumstances leading to the defendant's crime and the occurrence of the severe outcome also involve the responsibility of our society, which failed to adequately protect socially vulnerable groups," and judged, "The defendant has done her best to protect and raise the victim with affection despite difficult circumstances. It is not reasonable to socially harshly criticize only the defendant solely based on the outcome of the crime."