Jinju City Supports Identifying and Guiding Childcare Centers for Transferring Children
A daycare center in Jinju, Gyeongnam, where habitual abuse of children with disabilities was revealed, has unilaterally closed its doors.
According to Jinju City on the 1st, the daycare center notified parents on May 31 to stop bringing their children and ceased operations starting from June 1.
The city announced that on the 31st of last month, it imposed administrative sanctions including a six-month suspension of operations from September 1 this year to February 29 next year.
It added that there was no report or notification regarding the suspension of operations at all.
Facing the suspension situation, the city is urgently identifying other daycare centers where the children can be transferred, informing parents, and providing guidance on after-school support services.
The city also sent an official letter to the daycare center requesting that they prepare and submit measures for the care of the children and plans for hiring childcare staff by today.
This daycare center is a specialized childcare facility for children with disabilities, and all enrolled children have autism or developmental disabilities.
The offending teachers are accused of habitually assaulting 15 children aged 4 to 12 with autism or developmental disabilities over 500 times from June to August 2022 at the daycare center in Jinju; two were arrested, and seven were booked without detention.
They abused the children multiple times a day by hitting them with their hands or kicking their stomachs with their feet, dragging or pushing the children by their arms and legs causing them to fall backward.
They also assumed postures as if covering children who did not take naps with pillows and blankets.
In police investigations, most of the offending teachers admitted to the crimes, stating that they disciplined the children because they were difficult to handle as the children did not communicate well and did not follow control.
A city official said, “We will promptly resolve the confusion of parents who must be bewildered by the sudden closure of the daycare center and prioritize helping the children transfer to other daycare centers,” adding, “The operating corporation will be strictly punished according to the Infant Care Act.”
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