Preschool Teachers Who Fed Egg Porridge to Allergic Children Found 'Not Guilty'

The Court: "There Appears to Be No Intentional Abuse"

Childcare teachers at a daycare center were acquitted after forgetting that a 2-year-old child had an egg allergy and feeding the child egg porridge.

According to a Yonhap News report on the 26th, the Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 6 (Judge Choi Hee-dong) announced that both childcare teachers A and B, who were tried on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, were acquitted.

These teachers, working at a daycare center in Ulsan, were indicted for feeding a bowl of egg vegetable porridge to a 2-year-old child with an egg allergy in July 2021, failing to inform the parents, and not taking the child to the hospital. In addition, A and others were also charged with emotional abuse, such as not properly providing educational tools to the same child during playtime or not offering snacks during snack time. The prosecution claimed that A and others committed such abuse about 14 times over two months.

However, the court's judgment was different. Although A and others had been informed by the child's parents about the egg allergy, they simply forgot and fed the egg porridge, and since the child showed no particular symptoms after eating the porridge, the court judged that there was no intent to abuse. Regarding the other acts such as not providing snacks, after reviewing the daycare center's closed-circuit television (CCTV), the court concluded that these did not amount to abuse. In fact, it was judged that in some cases, snacks were not given to avoid waking the child who was asleep due to poor health.

The court stated, "While it cannot be said that the defendants were without shortcomings, considering the reality of having to care for multiple children, there seems to have been no intentional abuse." It further explained the reason for the acquittal, saying, "There were also many instances where the defendants expressed affection and concern for the child."